In God's Hands
by nicksfriend
Summary: I wanted the story to continue after Nick was pulled from the grave. I wanted a little bit more medical drama, more realistic to what could have happened and I also wanted to give Nick some good from all his trauma, a new relationship.
1. Chapter 1

Title: In God's Hands

Author: Nicksfriend

Rating:

Spoilers: Grave Danger

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...that is for sure.

Author's note:This is my first CSI fic. Please be gentle.

Chapter one

The ambulance came to a quick and jolting stop. He had started feeling pressure in chest just minutes before and the sounds of his friend's voices were becoming distant white noise. The audible wheezing in his chest was drowning out any other sound and he knew that he must be gasping for air because a mask was quickly placed on his face and he was moving from the vehicle.

There were voices all around him but he did not recognize them and just as he thought he would not be able to take another breath hands grabbed him and pulled him over to a different location and placed a tight fitting mask over his face, some improvement. He could not stop his jerking movements and his face, arms and legs were on fire. Now he knew what Hell must feel like.

"Mr. Stokes, my name is Dr David Fuller and you are at Dessert Palms emergency room. You are having difficulty breathing and there are some things that we are going to have to do to get you feeling better." Dr Fuller placed his stethoscope to Nick's chest and noted the raspy sounds and the expiratory and inspiratory wheezing sounds that explained why his patient was in respiratory distress.

Nick nodded because uttering a word was not going to happen. He was having to concentrate too much on just breathing right now. He could feel nausea stirring in his gut and he was dizzy.

"Good, first I need to get an intravenous line started and looking at your arms and neck that will not be an easy task." The doctor was taking in his patient's swollen face and arms which were covered with multiple ant bites, possibly hundreds of ant bites."Let's cut these clothes off and someone get me a central line kit." While he awaited the arrival of the kit he reached into the cabinet and withdrew an epi pen and quickly injected the medicine into his patient's upper left thigh. His patient reacted to the intrusion of the needle with a small moan.

As the clothing was quickly cut away he noticed that his patient's lower extremities were worse than his upper. This concerned him,his medical knowledge telling him he had a dire situation on his hands. The nurses were quickly attaching monitor leads and inserting a foley catheter. The doctor cleaned an area on his patient's femoral area on his right leg and quickly placed his hands into the sterile gloves from the central catheter kit.

Nick tried to open his now swollen eyes attempting to see what was going on and why he could not breathe. He was feeling a definite panic building up inside him and he started to move around on the small table, his voice too hoarse to yell for help but he felt the need to let them know that he was having a problem,he could not breathe.

The doctor saw his patient starting to panic and motioned to his nurse who placed a comforting hand on his shoulder."Listen," she whispered in a soft and gentle voice, "My name is Nicole, the doctor needs to get medicine into your system and he needs to start an IV. You will need to lie still."Her patient acknowledged her by quietening his movements as best he could on the small gurney.

Dr Fuller continued to place the line, cutting the opening into Nick's skin to get to the femoral vein and then placing the tube into the small hole, threading the catheter then stitching it into place, his patient definitely feeling the pain he was inflicting but it was necessary."What is his O2 sat?" Dr Fuller's question was more in response to the blue tint that had developed around his patient's lips since he arrived.

Nicole looked at the monitor and read the numbers, "Sats are 82 on a 100 rebreather, heart rate 120, blood pressure 90/40 and respirations 58." Her eyes reflected the concern that the doctor was also seeing in his patient.

"We need to get him a patent airway, he's going into shock, I need 10 milligrams of etomidate now!" He grabbed the laryngoscope and moved to the head of the gurney. Mr Stokes, we are going to have to get you breathing better because right now you are having a lot of difficulty. I will be giving you some medicine to assist you in relaxing and I promise you will not remember this later."

The twitching in his arms and legs was uncontrollable and the desire to vomit now was becoming overwhelming. What were they saying about a tube? All he could feel was numbness overcome his thoughts and he drifted out.

" Dr Fuller quickly inserted the larynogoscope into Nick's mouth and slid the plastic tube down his throat and a nurse placed an ambu bag to the end and quickly gave him two good breaths. "Get me a ventilator and let's get some blood work, a cbc with differential, a cmp, hepatic panel, urine with culture and sensitivity and let's go ahead and get a chest xray and an xray to check placement of this central line. Let's also give a breathing treatment, use Xopenex, his heartrate is too fast for the duonebs."

The emergency room staff and respiratory quickly got to work and soon the xray was done. Nick was placed on the ventilator and the bloodwork was on it's way to lab. Dr Fuller continued to assess his patient and ordered intravenous fluids and antibiotics with a loading dose of steroids. The reaction was severe so he ordered benadryl 50 milligrams IV stat.

"Let's get him moved to ICU, I want a cardiology and a respiratory consult. Let's get him started on a Valium drip, I do not want ICU placing restraints on him to keep that tube in place, he has been through enough." Dr Fuller had been informed of his patient's burial for the past twenty-four hours and the near death from explosives buried beneath him. His patient did not need anymore trauma.

Nicole turned and removed the medicated bag from the narcotic cabinet and affixed the tubing and connected it to a new pump and placed it one of the available lumens from his central line. She bent down when she was finished and whispered into his ear."You were a very brave man Mr Stokes. Hang in there." She gently stroked his sweaty forehead and started the process of getting him moved to ICU.

Dr Fuller picked up his patient's chart and headed towards the waiting area, he needed to inform the family how Mr Stokes was doing.

End of chapter one...hope you like! Feedback is always helpful...teach me!


	2. Chapter 2

Author: Nicksfriend

Rating:

Spoilers: Grave Danger

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...that is for sure.

Author's note:This is my first CSI fic. Please be gentle.

Chapter two

Dr Fuller walked into a waiting area filled with police officers and

worried family members. This was not going to be an easy task but he had been here

before with police officers who had been shot in the line of duty but he never had

someone buried alive before or bitten by hundreds of ants. He cleared his throat

and proceeded to call out for the Stokes family. "I need to speak with the Stokes

family." His voice seemed shaky even to his own ears.

A tall thin man stood followed by a shorter woman who seemed as if she had

the weight of the world on her shoulders approached,"How is our son?"

they spoke in unison,the worry evident in their voices.

The room became silent and he motioned to a more private place but they did

not move, Nick was their son but his family was here in Vegas and they too needed to hear what

the doctor had to say. He nodded and proceeded.

"Your son is critical. He is having a severe anaphylactic reaction to the

the large amount of ant venom he received. He has been placed on a machine to assist

his breathing. We've started antibiotics, fluids and steroids to assist with rehydration,

risk of infection and the swelling caused the reaction."

Nick's father pulled his wife closer to him, "Can we see him?" His eyes

filled with unshed tears.

The doctor shook his head, "Right now he is being moved to ICU. It will

take a few minutes to get him situated and then they will come to get you."

Warrick and Catherine stood nearby and had heard that Nick was having a

difficult time. They both were filled with guilt for different reasons. The rest of

the team would be there soon.

The entire room watched as the doctor disappeared back into the emergency

room. The parents were left standing holding on to each other at the news that their son was not doing well.

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"Gil." He answered his cell phone his voice raw from the cool night air.

"Hey, the doctor just came out and updated us on Nick. He is having a severe reaction to the ant venom and they had to place him on a ventilator." Tell him the facts and try to keep the emotion intact, she would have time for tears later, she thought to herself.

It did not surprise him, he had seen it before and read about multiple ant bit stings, Nick was lucky to still be alive and he knew that it would be days before he was out of the woods. Then he would have to deal with the demons of the box. "We're waiting on dayshift but they should be here soon. I really don't want to leave until we pass it on to days but Sara and Greg should be leaving soon."

"I'm worried about him Gil." Her voice finally cracking and tears welled up in her eyes. " There is something that you do not know about Nick and I feel that you and I need to talk about it," She did not want to break the confidence she had kept for all these years but it had to be said now, Nick had suffered another psychological blow.

Gil seemed confused, what was Catherine talking about and why was it so urgent that it be talked about now. "I'll be there as soon as I report off to dayshift. " He closed his phone and walked back to the crime scene. Daybreak was bringing a new light to the grave and he did not want to miss anything, any clues that might show that Gordan had not acted alone. In his mind he could not picture the older man carrying Nick and placing him in the SUV.

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Catherine returned to her seat in the ICU waiting area and noticed that Warrick had drifted off to sleep, exhaustion taking over. They had been up now for over thirty-two hours straight and she knew that Warrick had been worried about his best friend. The emotional trauma of seeing Nick holding that gun underneath his chin, his finger tight on the trigger, ready to end his suffering, She knew the emotional weight that he was placing on himself. She was feeling it too, she had given the assignment. She could not help but to think that Warrick would have been a more difficult catch, His height and weight would have made if more difficult for Gordan and Warrick could have put up more of a struggle given his tenacity. Nick was too trusting, a victim too often in his life. She could not help to think that Nick would always be a victim.

Catherine's thoughts were interrupted when a nurse walked into the waiting room and announced that Mr Stokes could have visitors for just a few minutes. She gently nudged Warrick awake and stood. Warrick almost pushed his chair over when he stood, excited to be able to see his friend.

Nick's parents entered first and stood by their son's bed, they took his gauze wrapped hands into their's and held it as if to let it go would bring about devastating consequences. They stood in silence for what seemed like hours but in actuality was only minutes, The low hum of machinery surrounded him, his arms wrapped in white guaze to protect them from infection, the color an almost match for his pale complexion. The tube that snaked into his throat taped securely and his right thigh showed an intravenous line with many tubes attached. Leads attached to his head , his hand and chest. He did not look like the easy going son they had grown to love over the years, instead he looked like a very sick patient who was struggling to stay alive. Slowly they moved away, tears flowing from both parents.

Tears slipped from Warrick's eyes as he approached his best friend's bed, He seemed helpless and this was not the first time that he had seen his friend in this manner. Guilt engulfed him, if he had taken the trash run, not Nick, then things would have been different. He would be dead because he would not have lasted through such torture. He knew his limits, and he knew that Nick had suffered, a lot."I am so sorry Nick, it should have been me bro." he whispered to his friend's unconscious form. He squeezed Nick's hand and walked away, unable to control the emotion that was welling up inside of him.

Catherine watched Warrick as he slipped out of the ICU cubicle and she knew that she was limited in time but she picked up Nick's abandoned hand and gently placed a light kiss to the bandages, Then she leaned over and whispered, "Nick, I need to tell Gil your secret, if I don't he will not know what true effect this event had on you and he needs to know. Forgive me." Her hand automatically brushed his hair back away from his face and she slipped away from the bed, leaving him to sleep in his drug induced slumber, tears streaking down her tired face.

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Sara, Greg and Grissom entered the ICU waiting room, which seemed overcrowded now with Nick's family members growing in number and his friend's from the crime lab waiting around just to give comfort to each other. Archie sat in the far corner quietly listening to his ipod, David seemed to be irritatingly annoying the desk receptionist. Wendy and Mandy sat talking oblivious to the others around them. They had all worked together to find Nick, they had all deserved to see their friend improve. Grissom looked around for Warrick or Catherine but they were nowhere in sight.

Grissom was startled when he heard a voice from behind him announce visiting for the patients which should only be limited to ten minutes which would be strictly enforced. Archie, David , Wendy and Mandy stood, it was their time to see their coworker, They had allowed the family the last three visits but they needed to return to work tonight and they had to get home so the family had insisted they get the next hourly visit.

Grissom, Sara and Gregg fell in behind them as they entered the ICU cubicle. Nick was still attached to the ventilator and his pale form was turned on his side facing away from the door. Gregg held back, he was having second thoughts of seeing his friend in this condition, he always thought of Nick as strong and unbreakable but what he could see from his viewpoint, this was not Nick, it was a broken man. He turned and walked back into the waiting area. This was not lost on Grissom and he made a mental note to talk to Greg in the near future.

He watched as the team cried and talked to Nick, each one having a moment of tears and sadness for the man lying so helpless in the bed. Their pity so evident and their grief was palpable. Grissom could only feel a sense of pride in Nick, knowing how far he had come since having a gun shoved in his face years ago. Nick was the bravest man he knew, he suffered but endured. Nick had grown into a true man, one that he was proud knowing. When he looked up from his thoughts he saw that only Sara and himself remained. Sara was holding his hand and whispering something into his ear. Never jealous of their closeness, they were like siblings. The love they had for each other immeasurable and they were so extremely protective of each other as well as a healthy competitiveness that always made them a better team. He smiled as she bent down and kissed him on his cheek and walked away, covering her face so that her boss would not see her weakness.

He was left alone, looking down on a man who felt that he had somehow disappointed him. What had he done to give Nick this inferiority complex, this insecurity. He made a mental note to tell Nick that he was doing a great job, he was proud of the leaps and bounds that he had grown. Nick seemed so vulnerable right now and he hoped that Gordan had not destroyed his tenacity and resilience. He turned to walk away when he felt something brush against him, he looked down to see weak eyes looking up at him almost pleading for the removal of the tube in his throat. Grissom turned and loudly asked for a nurse, grabbing the hand that was trying to move towards the tube, "Nick, listen, That tube is important right now and you can not take it out. Just relax."

Nick did not attempt any further and quickly a nurse was at the bedside with a syringe. She nodded her thanks to Grissom who stayed until Nick's eyes closed and his struggles had ceased. It made him smile to know that Nick, even in drug induced state was still being his stubborn Texan self. He turned and walked back towards his coworkers, his family.

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Brass stood outside of the hospital, reporters flashing their cameras and yelling questions about the CSI that got buried alive.

He held up his hands and demanded order from the crowd, " I will answer questions but only one at a time and I will not be giving out the name of the CSI agent. If you can not abide by the rules the press conference will be over." He turned and faced his fellow officers and smirked, "If it was up to me this would not even be an issue, but we have a sheriff who wants publicity more than he wants an agent to have his privacy."

Ecklie stood and took the podium beside of Brass ready to answer questions, the intensivist caring for Nick stood to the side nervously awaiting to give an update on his very sick patient. Ecklie pointed towards a red haired journalist for the first question.

My name is Brandi Carroll and I am with the Las Vegas times and my question is for Mr Brass, " I have it on good authority that the CSI was on a call when this event occurred and the police officer at the crime scene did nothing to stop his capture. Is this true?"

"The officer on call had stepped away for only a few minutes and in that time frame our investigator was taken." Brass answered, his no nonsense tone in place.

A CNN correspondent was next and he seemed to be more on top of the story than the previous individual, " I am Chuck Graham with CNN news. My question is for Director Ecklie. I have discovered the name of the CSI agent but I will not give his name at this meeting out of respect for his family. I would like to know the condition that he is in after suffering from being both buried alive and attacked by red ants and almost being blown up with explosives that were attached to his plexiglass coffin?."

That got the crowd buzzing and the microphones seemed to raise higher towards Brass and Ecklie. The doctor knew that this was his cue and approached the front of the crowd as Brass introduced him as Dr Mason the ICU intensivist that was in charge of the agent's care.

"My name is Dr Mason. I have been caring for the agent since his arrival in ICU. He arrived having difficulty with his breathing which was improved in the emergency room by our professional team of doctors and nurses. He is now in ICU receiving the upmost care from the specialist and our staff. I would list his condition as critical at this time."

The press conference continued and Brass felt that from what he had already heard Nick Stokes would be an everyday name within the next twelve hours.

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Warrick had see Cath angry before but not like right now. The press meeting was still ongoing but they had left when it was announced that Nick's name would be all over the papers tomorrow. Maybe they were thinking that nobody had been paying attention that a CSI agent had disappeared but they were wrong and now every news station would be saying Nick Stokes name tomorrow. This is not what Nick would of wanted, he was such a private man, The judge and his wife would need to be able to get to their son without such interference, arrangements would need to be made today.

"Cath, I'll talk to Brass and see if we can get a room here at Dessert Palms for Nick's family to stay." Warrick was already pulling out his cell phone.

"You might want to wait until after the press conference so that those vultures will not overhear your conversation." she growled. She was like a mother hen when it came to Nick and she was going to do whatever in her power to protect him from the press.

Her thoughts were cut short by the shrill of her cell. She flipped it open and answered ,"Gil, where are you?"

"I just saw Nick, I am heading towards the press conference." He answered rather winded from moving down the sterile white hallways of the medical building.

"Don't bother, we were just there, they know Nicky's name. I guess they picked it up off the police scanners." she stopped moving, emotion was overcoming her, it had been too long without sleep.

"What about Nick's parents and family?" He knew that a supreme court judge's son would warrant more attention than the average Joe.

"Warrick is already working on it as we speak. I need to talk to you in private. Where do you want to meet? "She did not want to share Nick's secret with anybody other than Grissom, even that was causing her great guilt.

"Brass's office, it's on the third floor next to the back hall elevators, I'll meet you there" the phone call ended. Now all she had to do was get rid of Warrick so she could speak to Grissom alone she thought inwardly. When she turned towards Warrick she was met with questioning eyes.

"If this is about Nick I want to know. He is my best friend and we do not keep secrets." His voice was worried and his eyes were glassy with unshed tears.

"This is about another matter." She gave him a sweet smile and reached up and brushed a tear away. "I need you to start arranging for the family to get moved here, we will have our hands full soon enough, possibly even tonight."

Warrick nodded and walked off with his cell phone already open and dialing numbers to make arrangements.

Catherine closed her eyes and wished that she did not have to lie but right now it was not her call. She needed to talk to Grissom. She walked towards the elevator.

Okay...feedback makes my heart warm. I have to work this weekend but will be back to posting on Monday!


	3. Chapter 3

Author: Nicksfriend

Rating:k

Spoilers: Grave Danger

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...that is for sure.

Author's note:This is my first CSI fic. Please be gentle.

Chapter three

The door signs all looked alike so she had to take one door at a time,and where was Grissom? And why did Brass have an office in the hospital? Her mind was thinking way too much and she need to focus on finding that stupid door.

She was tired and frustrated and she was about to pull out her cell phone to ask him where the heck the office was when she heard a voice behind her speak.

"I figured you got lost. I came to find you." Grissom smiled a very tired smile and motioned for Catherine to follow him into Brass's office.

She had just actually passed the room so it really wasn't technically lost, she thought to herself as she entered the room and quickly found a chair and collapsed."I know you probably want to get home, we need to come back tonight but I really do need to talk to you."

"I must say that you have me a little concerned Catherine." He took a seat across the large wooden desk and placed his hands so that he could rest his chin in them."Please tell me what is bothering you, it must be important."

"Gil,I really do not want to betray a confidence that I have with Nick but there is something that you should know and it may be imperative to Nick healing one hundred percent." The day's events were beginning to catch up with her and she was feeling emotionally raw and having major second thoughts about breaking Nick's trust. She remembered his pained face raw emotion seldom seen and his unshed tears as he finally allowed himself to tell a secret that had been inside him for all those years.

Grissom interrupted, "Catherine, I would never ask you to betray this confidence unless you feel it is absolutely necessary." He paused for a second. Taking in the tired appearance of his friend," I know he trusts you Catherine. You are like a big sister to Nick."

She hesitated for a minute then proceeded, " I would never tell anybody this but you Gil. You have always had the best interest of Nick in mind. You have always treated him like a son."

Grissom nodded, he knew that he had been overprotective with Nick just as he had in the past with Sara, Warrick and Greg. Possibly even more since the death of the young CSI years ago, Holly should have never died in that unprotected setting. Nick should have never been taken from that crime scene.

"Three years ago Nick confided in me a secret which I have protected until this day." She hesitated for a few seconds biting her lip and thinking about what to say, attempting to protect Nick's secret now but allowing Grissom to understand that Nick had an event that could hinder him from completely healing emotionally."Something bad happened to Nick when he was nine years old. I am not going into detail but Gil it was an event that affected his whole life. " Be careful what you say she reminded herself, only what needs to be said. "Nick's trust was betrayed and he lives with that pain everyday. He was unable to share this event with anybody until he told me that day."

He stood slowly and turned towards the white bare wall behind him. His mind racing at all the possibilities that could have had such an impact on the youngest child of seven.

The room was quiet for several minutes when Grissom spoke, his tone quiet and reflective, " Being nine is such a hard thing to be evidently." His life too had changed when he was only nine years old.

Catherine suddenly remembering Grissom telling her that he was only nine when his father died, his mother unable to awaken him for cool drinks. She shook her head,unable to deny that these two men were so much alike in so many ways."Nick will need all of us to get him through this event. He is fighting for his life right now and all we can do is sit back and watch him suffer, like he is still in that damned box, alone and unable to reach out to anyone."

Again a very quiet and reflective Grissom spoke, his face still towards the wall, "He's in God's hands now Catherine. All we can do is to wait on His final decision."

Catherine stood to walk out the door, she needed to go home and sleep. It would be a very long night. In the end she was unable to break the confidence that was entrusted into her hands that day, his words still rang in her ears,'That's what makes a person I guess.' Being raped by a babysitter could never make the man Nick Stokes became, his character was developed through overcoming circumstances that were out of his control and he had done a hell of a job of it, not only once but many times.

"Catherine." His voice now above a whisper,"He'll be fine, we will make sure of it."

"I hope so. I think he will need all of us to fully heal." She opened the door and left him standing alone in the room.

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Brass entered his office in a huff, those reporters were just self absorbed vultures ready to feast on the misfortune of others and he would be damned if Nicky was their prey. He slammed the door shut and threw the case folder to the already cluttered desktop unaware that he was wasn't alone.

"They tick you off Jim?" Grissom stated softly so as to not startle his friend.

Brass jumped and turned, now facing his friend. "What the hell, you trying to give an old man a coronary?"

"Sorry Jim, I just needed a quiet place to think.", his voice gravely from the lack of sleep.

"You know me, I'm not that easy to get ticked off but if you do then it is the fury of Hell." He did not notice his friend's expression of grief and pain."They know Nick's name, it will be in the papers by tonight and it is probably being broadcast as I speak on all major news channels. Privacy means nothing anymore." He pulled a chair out and sat down and rubbing his face harshly with his hand, feeling defeated in trying to protect the young CSI.

"It's human nature Jim. Our culture tends to want to see the most horrible of crimes, we look at car accidents with a morose sense of curiosity. It is our nature." Grissom came over and patted his friend on the back. "I'm going to check on Nick and then head home. It has been a long day." He opened the door and exited leaving Jim behind to make arrangements for security to be placed in ICU and getting the judge and his family in a secured place.

He would go see Nicky when he finished.

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Dr Mason approached his patient's bed and frowned at the increasing redness around the numerous ant bites. His patient's xrays were still on display beside his bed, two cracked ribs on his left side, must have happened when they pulled him from his coffin he thought to himself. How could any man tolerate this type of abuse and ever be whole again, he thought inwardly. He read the monitor's numbers and charted some changes with his medications. Hopefully he could remove the tube by morning. He would continue to keep watch over this fallen agent.

"Grace, I need to go and check on a patient on 5A, if you need me just page." Dr Mason informed Nick's nurse.

She nodded and continued to chart her findings, glancing at the monitors and recording vitals making sure the numbers stayed within normal limits . The tech was getting ready to give his bath when Grace noticed that Nick was trying to fight his sedative. He is one strong willed man she mused as she readjusted his medication on the pump. She glanced down and noted that he was starting to relax. She returned to her charting area and sat down.

"Grace, did Dr Mason mention anything about a burn?" The tech asked as she rolled Nick onto his side, his gown partially removed for his bath.

Grace stood from her charting table and walked back over, she could not help but to gasp at what had formed on her patient's back, a huge blister covering his lower back, probably a second degree burn, she continued to assess for any other sign of significant burns or trauma when she noted that he had developed a fever. Quickly she grabbed a thermometer and placed it in his ear. One hundred and three point two. Grace went to the nurse's station and paged Dr Mason stat.

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Warrick had stayed, he would sleep in the hard chair, it was his night off but he knew that without Nick they would be short staffed but he could not make himself leave. Guilt gnawed at his mind and he just could not leave Nick until he knew that his condition had improved.

He looked around the crowded room, Nick's parents had left to go to their room that he had arranged with Brass earlier to sleep. There were still several family members present, sleeping in the recliners, refusing to leave their brother's side. He had overheard conversations that involved taking Nick back to Texas, closer to home. He also heard conversations that involved Nick's mental status after enduring such trauma, being buried alive. He had lived through everyone's worse nightmare. He shook his head and placed his hands on his forehead. What had he done?

Suddenly he felt a hand on his back, his first thought was Sara but as he glanced up he saw a beautiful young woman, he knew her name immediately, it was Rebecca, Nick's youngest sister though she was still older than Nick. Her reddish brown hair filled with lots of curls pulled back with a soft pink ribbon. Her eyes the same color as Nick's, though she did not have his southern accent.

"Hey, how are you holding up?" he asked as he motioned for her to take the vacant chair bedside him.

She smiled and sat down, her eyes telling the tale of pain and worry. " I'm fine." she paused then continued "I wanted to thank you. Nick always talks about you, sometimes I think he wishes he could be more like you."

That was not the thing to say to a man with extreme guilt, tears welled up in his eyes, emotion overcoming him. He could not help it but a small laugh escaped his throat, how ironic he thought to himself. "I actually want to be more like Nick. I do not know a braver man." He smiled at Rebecca then rubbed at his face to attempt to disguise the pain he was trying so hard to conceal.

Just as he was starting to think that he could recover an announcement was made for visitors but this time it was different.

"I will need the Stokes family to come to the conference room." the voice had a serious tone.

Warrick stood, his heart beating wildly in his chest, the family having the expression of shock on their faces. Something had happened to Nick. He felt his legs weaken and he had to sit back down to keep from falling.

Rebecca, who was now on her feet again and looking down at Warrick, "You're family too, let's go."

He stood again, a little more steady on his feet and followed the family into the conference room.

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Dr Mason entered the room, he looked worried, in his hand Nick's chart, which seemed to have grown in size since earlier in the day. "Everybody, I am Dr Mason. Are the parents coming?", noting the absence of the older couple.

"They are sleeping. We will get them if you think it is necessary," a nervous female voice spoke up.

Warrick looked over to see where the voice had originated in the very crowded room, he knew immediately that it had to be Elizabeth, Nick's older sister. Nick had described her often as the mothering type. Elizabeth always watched over her little brother, protective like a cat Nick described her mothering instincts. Elizabeth would always become protective when one of them were in trouble and his parents were not around.

Dr Mason nodded," I don't think we need to do that just yet. Mr Stokes has developed a significant fever. We are also seeing what looks like a second degree burn on his lower back. On initial assessment we thought it was a severe area of reaction, it blistered though and now we have called in a burn specialist. It must of occurred during the explosion."

Warrick remembered how ten of then had jerked Nick out of his grave, the explosion immediately followed. They thought he had escaped any damage. Things just seemed to be getting worse for his friend.

"We are changing some things with his care, new antibiotic, burn protocol and increasing his fluids. His kidneys are functioning but I would like to see an improvement in some of his labwork. He is still intubated and I had considered removing the breathing device but now I will delay it until we see where the fever originated. It could be from the severe reaction, he has bruised and fractured ribs which probably occurred from the impact with the ground. He could have developed an early pneumonia. We also have gotten some blood for cultures and a urine culture, and some new xrays but some of those tests will take time though and when we work with a trauma patient time is not always on our side." Dr Mason looked around the room, he knew the great responsibility of caring for patients but right now he knew that this man had suffered the most horrible of indignities and still found a way to survive, he knew the responsibility that was handed to him. He could not let this family or his patient down."Any questions?"

A gentleman who could have been an older version of Nick stood forward and spoke up. "Be honest with us, what are we looking at? A second degree burn? I am thinking sunburn with blistering but a larger area?"

"Exactly. But anytime you have a burn of that degree and size the risk of infection is greater." Dr Mason explained without causing any undue concern but his patient's immune system had also been compromised by hundreds of ant bites in addition to the burn. A double whammy he thought to himself.

The room became silent again. Warrick studied the look on John's face, almost stoic, but he had seen the love for his brother on a fishing trip once. John had ribbed his brother unmercifully about not being able to catch a fish. Nick loved his brother and his brother loved him.

"Anymore questions?" he asked.

Everybody sat in stunned silence as they wiped away tears. Dr Mason was trying not to meet eyes with any of his patient's family's, his own exhaustion causing him to feel emotional about his patient's condition.

"If you think of anything else just have me paged. We are asking that you glove and gown and please use the antibacterial soap prior to entering. We can at least offer him a little bit more protection using these procedures." He then smiled and left the stunned family.

Warrick quickly stood and left, he needed to call Grissom and Catherine.

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Brass had entered the empty ICU lounge, the desk clerk had informed him that it was time for visitors. He entered the area and was immediately met by a nurse who showed him where to wash his hands, glove and gown. This is new he thought to himself. He walked over to Nick, his still form soaked in sweat, the breathing tube assisting his raspy breaths. Every inch of his upper torso covered in tiny white pustules from the trauma of red ant bites. His lower abdomen and back covered in thick white gauze.

His thoughts raced as he thought about his cases with Nick, his energy and excitement for the hunt. He also remembered a time when he saw this young man so raw and emotional after his struggle with Nigel Crane. It had taken months for Nick to overcome that emotional rollercoaster. He could not help but to see this young man as a son that he had never had,someone he loved more than he cared to admit, a similar love that he had for Ella.

He reached over to touch Nick's arm, to have some connection to this struggling man, to possibly give him strength in knowing that he was not alone.

Nick's eyes barely opened and he stared up at Brass, unable to make a noise, he just stared. Brass's eyes welled with tears and he stiffled a choked cry."Hey, some people will do anything to get out of work." he smiled down at Nick.

Nick rolled his eyes and nodded a weak nod. A grimace covered his face, he was definitely in pain.

Brass turned and called for his nurse, Grace. "I think he is in pain."

The nurse was shocked again to see her patient fighting the drugs,

"She reached out to readjust the sedative and his new intravenous pain med when Nick caught her hand and shook his head. "Mr Stokes you need to be resting."

He shook his head and pointed at Brass.

"Okay, but raise your hand one inch off that bed towards that tube and you will be snoozing for a while!" She winked at Brass and smiled then returned to her charting.

He weakly nodded and looked at Brass with wider eyes. As if he should be scared of the older nurse who had just threatened him with drugs.

"She don't scare me, I've seen meaner women in my day, for example my ex." He smiled and pulled up a seat.

He saw that Nick was not going to stay awake long, his eyes already starting to close. "Everybody is worried about you Nick. I'm glad you held on son." He reached up readjusting Nick's pillow nervously.

Nick rolled his eyes, he faintly remembered what had occurred but was finding it hard to remember details in his drugged state of mind.

Brass stayed with Nick until he drifted back to sleep,he could not help but to have a certain sense of protectiveness about this man, the way you want to protect your own child. He knew also that he was not the only one to have this protectiveness with him. Even Gil Grissom seemed like an overprotective father with Nick, and where did he come up with that nickname, Pancho? Well, wherever the hell it came from it worked on Nicky and that is all that mattered. He stood and left when he realized that Nick had fallen back into his drug induced sleep.

Brass's last thought as he exited the cubicle was that he would do whatever it took to help get this man up and going again. He would not let him down like one of his officer's had done. That reminded him he need to put someone on a nice three day unpaid vacation.

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Okay...chapter three. For those who might just be worried that I might give Nick a romance...stop worrying...maybe a new relationship or close friendship that could develop into another story down the road, maybe more like a very close new friend. Thanks for all the feedback. It is so wonderful to know that people read what you write and actually like it! Thank You.


	4. Chapter 4

Author: Nicksfriend

Rating:k

Spoilers: Grave Danger

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...that is for sure.

Author's note:This is my first CSI fic. Please be gentle.

Nicole had been off for only one night when she was called in to work ICU. It was nice to pick up extra time in the ICU unit and the money always came in handy for great trips. She loved to travel especially in the fall of the year. Entering the ICU area she quickly clocked in with her badge and picked up her assignment.

Placing her purse and bag into the locker she sat down and started reading over the report , she suddenly stopped as she read the name, Nicholas Stokes. Recognition was instantaneous and she stood and walked into the ICU cubicle where he was lying propped on his side. His eyelids dark and swollen, he sported a serious collection of reddened areas with white pustules and he was still intubated.

Unable to just walk away back to report she walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to give him comfort in his restless sleep."Mr Stokes, it is Nicole, you probably don't remember me but I took care of you when you were in the emergency room." She smiled and shook her head, taking in his appearance, " I'm going to be your nurse tonight." How could anybody hurt someone like this and be human, she thought to herself?

She checked the monitor settings and felt they were all within normal ranges and walked back to get report.

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The halls of the crime lab were somewhat somber except for the sound of soft music coming from Hodges work area. Even the resident egghead was being respectful of the mood of the crew.

Sara and Catherine were waiting in the lounge for Grissom to arrive. Greg was sitting in the video room with Archie watching some ATM footage from a recent unsolved case.

Grissom walked in with assignments to be given out, the absence of Nick and Warrick tonight would be greatly missed, it was going to be a long night and he could see a double in the making given his lack of staff.

"Sara you are solo tonight, DB at the Shop and Save market at 4900 Dean Martin Drive." He looked at her the grin he had just placed on her face was priceless. She stood and moved towards the door. She hesitated and turned, "How's Nick?."

Grissom had just called Warrick, he was still having a difficult time but he just smiled and stated," He's hanging in there right now."

She nodded, a sad expression covered her face, she turned and left for her assignment without saying another word.

Grissom knew that everybody was hurting right now but knew that they had to keep their minds and hands busy. He would keep tabs on Nick's progress with Warrick. He knew he would not leave his friend's side.

He picked up were he left off handing out the night's assignments, it had to be done.

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Nicole gowned, gloved and picked up the pink stethoscope that was for isolation patients only. As she approached her patient's bed she noted his eyes fluttering, Grace had told her that he was a fighter.

"Mr Stokes, my name is Nicole, but my friends call me Nikki. I am your nurse tonight as I told you earlier. I need to make a few assessments okay?" Not really expecting as answer.

She placed her stethoscope on his chest checking breath sounds in each lobe noting that he was diminished slightly at his left base, she already knew that from the chest xray that had been obtained earlier when he started running fever.

Lying in a grave for twenty-four hours unable to move but only inches could have been one of the causes of the new pneumonia but it was being treated with heavy duty antibiotics and fever reducers, she was certain that he would overcome this one set back.

Placing her stethoscope over his abdomen she listened to each quadrant and the hypoactive bowel sounds in each, her concern that he may also develop an ileus, due to his bed ridden state. She would ask if Dr Allen, who was now covering the ICU would like to start him on some nutrition, possibly glucerna select.

She took out her pin light and checked each pupil and noted they were reactive to light, the EEG attached to his head showed that he had not suffered any brain damage from the lack of oxygen in the coffin. After checking his central line and securing his lines with new tape she noted theses things in Nicks' nursing notes. Marking the amounts of urine output and the amount of fluid intake for the hour she sat down and charted his present vitals, the numbers were good and within normal limits. The continuous EKG was now showing sinus rhythm, the rapid heartrate had improved from the night before.

She glanced up and saw Dr Allen and called out, " Dr Allen do you want to start him on parenteral nutrition, maybe a dobhoff?"

He glanced up and reached for Nick's chart. "That is actually a good idea given his pneumonia and the burn on his back, just make sure he keeps that head up at least ninety degrees, we don't need any more complications such as aspiration. Also watch him for fluid overload."

Nicole nodded and took out a tubing pack from the cabinet and some ky jelly and placed the lubricant on the end of the long yellow tube.

She placed him in an almost sitting position and started to slide the tube into the right nostril hoping that it would not curl around the intubation tube as it slid down his throat into his esophagus, she was successful and continued to push the tube down until a short about of tubing was left remaining sticking out, leaving the guide wire inside the tube, she turned and asked the unit clerk to order a KUB, the abdominal xray would check for placement then she would tape it into place.

Nick had not moved during the insertion but then his body suddenly reacted to the intrusion of the tube with a coughing spell which Nicole knew would pass but it kept sending the machine's beepers and buzzers off with an almost constant alarm.

Nick's eyes were watering with the coughing fits and she grabbed a handful of tissue and started wiping his face gently avoiding scratching the multiple stings on his face, his hands still had not attempted to remove the tubing but she was afraid she would have to apply restraints if he started to try to pull it out of his nose. Remembering Dr Fuller's words about no restraints due to his extensive abuse with his abduction she decided to make sure he could not reach the tube. She would bring her chair closer and hold his hands if necessary.

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Warrick sat exhausted in the ICU waiting area, the last visit with Nick had been extremely emotional for him, seeing his friend wrapped in new bandages. The television was playing softly, the name Nicholas Stokes quickly becoming an everyday name for all the world, CNN,FOX and MSNBC were carrying the story as if Nick was some movie star. The one thing he new about Nick is that he was a private man and hated people prying into his private life. Judge Stokes had earlier berated the intrusion into his son's life knowing that Nick had moved to Vegas to avoid this very scenario.

The family was coping at different levels and he could not help to see another side of Nick's family, they loved him with all their hearts but he did notice that he was still treated like the baby of the family.

Warrick stood and stretched out hand when he saw a familiar face enter the ICU lounge, he walked over to greet Brass who seemed more tired that he felt.

"Hey, how is Nicky?" he asked quietly as he motioned for Warrick to follow him out of the quiet room.

Warrick nodded and followed answering,"He's hanging in there right now."

The new presence of security guards in the hallway and at the ICU doors were new and the look on Brass's face was not lost on Warrick, he had seen this face before.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Brass took a deep breath and spoke,"This place has turned into a zoo." He motioned Warrick to follow him to his office and when they arrived they entered and locked the door.

"Is Nick going to be safe here?" he asked concerned about the intrusion of press and the public, all trying to get a glimpse of the man who had been buried alive and who had survived with all the gory details.

They both took a seat and Brass reached into his desk and pulled out the evening edition of the times and it had Nick's picture plastered on the front page along with still aerial shots of his grave. The headline was ' Crime Scene Investigator Nick Stokes Captured, Buried and Tortured'.

Nicky is not going to like this he thought to himself. He watched as Brass pulled out several papers all with different headlines, 'Buried Alive" the most common headline and "He Survived' being the other.

"I have increased security but I have a feeling Nick is in for a rough ride. This kind of intrusion will only get worse over the next few weeks,people live for something good and will not want to let go of it until they get their fill regardless of the intrusion on his personal life." Brass grumbled as he placed the papers off his desk.

"I guess that never occurred to me that this would get that much publicity." Warrick paused as he remembered the the Crimestoppers article and how Nick hated the unwanted attention it brought him, the embarrassment that people could see into his life. "We'll have to be more vigilant and if possible more protective of Nick's privacy."

Brass nodded, "I've increased security at every entrance and in ICU I've placed guards and provided extra protection to the family with undercover policemen. But even I know that a place like Desert Palms can not be secured one hundred percent." he paused and stood, needing to go and check on some other things.

"Hopefully we'll get Nick well and out of here in a few days." his voice sounding unsure of his own words.

"Hopefully man." He stood to go back to the ICU but turned to look at Brass one last time, "We have to protect him, we both know what he endured in that box, it will be a long time before he is the same man."

The sad look on Warrick's face was not lost on Brass who new the friendship between these two men was solid, a thought of how they always had been competitive but protective of each other.

"That's what pisses me off the most." They both left the office to go to their perspective places, both with one thing in common, protect Nick.

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Nicole had her charting on Nick's bedside table with the laptop open to his history. This was not the first time this man had suffered a blow on his profession. According to his history he had been thrown from a window once before and suffered several injuries, though none were life threatening it must have had an effect on him.

She looked over at the new feeding pump that was now infusing his tube feeding and noted the rate, she was increasing it in small increments so as not to shock his gut.

The respiratory therapist had started to wean Nick off the ventilator, Nick had started to fight the machine with coughing spells and trying to take his own breaths. This was actually a good sign, as the order to also decrease his sedative had been given so that he could come up out of his dsedated state and be more alert.

Suddenly she was looking into his deep brown eyes and he desperately was trying to move his hands towards the tubes inflicting the pain on his raw throat, at least this is what she thought. She grabbed both hands into her own and tried to comfort him with words. Telling him if was going to be fine but she suddenly noticed his eyes were unfocused and he was fighting more than the tubes, he was trying to push her off and fear was in his eyes. Her history of taking care of trauma patients she had seen many full blown panic attack before and this was definitely one for the books. "I need help please." Her voice loud but in control.

Suddenly the doctor and several other nurses appeared and a pair of restraints were pulled out of a box by another nurse to tie his hands down but the physician stopped that process. "He is to have not restraints even if we have to sit and hold his hands the rest of the shift."

The staff complied and Nick's sedative was increased again but not to the same level of sedation he had before and their patient started to relax,the doctor spoke." Mr Stokes we are trying to remove that tube out of your throat, do you understand ?"

Nick nodded, and allowed the removal of the tape and when the tube slid from his throat he coughed for several seconds, exhausted from the previous events he closed his eyes and slept, a nasal cannuli was placed around his face to replace the oxygen that he had been getting from the ventilator and adjusted the liters to keep his sat levels above ninety five percent.

"Let's see how he does with this but you can place a mask if his sats fall below ninety-five percent. Also, the burn to his lower back was debrided last night, I want to take a look at it while we have him out." Dr Allen rolled him over and removed the fresh bandage that Nicole had placed earlier and noted that it looked better, it was still draining but the silvadine cream was doing the trick. He left Nicole to rebandage the wound and she placed him to his other side with his head elevated.

Visitors would be coming in soon so she quickly cleaned up the mess that had been created during the removal of the tube and the ventilator was pushed to the side. She took the tube of cream for his bites and lathered it on his face, allowing it to soak in before his visitors were to see him. If he awakened she did not want him to be in any pain so she hit his PCA button on his medication machine and gave him an extra dose of his pain med.

The monitors told her that his breathing was effective and his sats were within normal range. She took the restraints that had been pulled from the box and placed them in a drawer, she would not need them on her shift, the tubes would be kept in place the old fashion way, soft talking and holding his hands if necessary.

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Elizabeth and John entered the ICU cubicle to see that their brother was definitely improving, the intubation tube had been removed and Nick was breathing on his own now. They could not help but to smile at their little brother's ability to surprise them. The judge and his wife were next in line and tears filled their eyes as they noticed his improvement and Warrick just smiled,'Way to go Nicky." he thought to himself.

As if Nick to read his friends's thoughts he opened his eyes and stared at the crowd before him, he reached out for his mother's hands after a few seconds of trying to adjust his eyes to the light. "Hey." his sore, gravely voice which was not barely above a whisper greeted the crowd in the room.

"Hey your self Pancho. How are you feeling son?" The father was emotional, so happy to see that his son was a survivor, it was what he expected of his younger son. He expected him to put up a fight, it is what the Stokes family name was all about, overcoming adversity.

Nick's expression changed at the mention of the nickname as if it were bringing back a bad memory .This was not lost on Warrick who was standing in the background taking in the family moment. Just as quick Nick was back to talking, rather listening to his family talk. His throat too raw and sore to talk but he gave them a flash of a smile that seemed to satisfy them all.

One by one they left, each giving him a kiss and a hug avoiding his multiple tubes and wires.

Warrick was the last one at the bedside, words were difficult but he knew Nick would want him to be himself. "Man you had me worried."

Nick rolled his eyes and shrugged, pointing at the glass of water on his table and Warrick glanced at his nurse who nodded that he could have a drink.

Nicole walked over and picked up the glass and placed a straw inside and poured some cool water, "Just take a sip, I don't want you choke."

Nick nodded and took a small sip, the tube in the back of his throat was making his throat sore and difficult to swallow. He waved the glass away.

Nick looked at Warrick who seemed so tired. His weak hand raised and pointed at his friend,"You're tired, go home."barely getting out the words and grimacing in the process.

Warrick was moved that even though he was the sick one he was thinking more about him, "I'm not leaving you man. I won't leave you"

Nick raised his hand, Nicole now watching him closely, her fear that he might try to remove the tube.

Warrick knew immediately that Nick was playing their game, rock, paper, scissors and if he won he could stay and if he lost then Nick would expect him to go home and rest.

They held up their fists and Warrick and Nick did their fists together, Nick was rock and Warrick drew scissors.

"Okay man, I will go home but I'll be back after I sleep and take a bath." Warrick conceded to losing to Nick.

"Good." Nick gave him a small wave and closed his eyes knowing that the one rule of the game was that they had to abide by the results. He knew that Warrick would go home and sleep so therefore he would not have to worry about his friend.

When Warrick left Nicole took her seat next to her patient again and held his left hand in hers and charted with her right. She felt more protective now than she had earlier, she saw a glimpse of the man who Nick Stokes was and she loved what she saw.

Rarely was she ever affected by a patient but this man was definitely having an affect on her and it was a nice feeling.

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Okay people do I write more or end it now? Let me know!


	5. Chapter 5

Author: Nicksfriend

Rating:k

Spoilers: Grave Danger

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...that is for sure.

Author's note:This is my first CSI fic. Please be gentle.

_His mind was in overdrive, the effects of the sedative wearing off and he was finding that all his mind could process was being in that damned box._

_Over and Over again his mind played through the scenario, and over and over again the same results. He could not change the fact that he had been buried alive and survived, rescued by his friends, his coworkers._

_He did not know details and he did not know if he wanted them. Could they even imagine what he had suffered in that hole? Did he want them to know what he had suffered and how close he had come in the end to taking his gun and ending it there._

"Mr Stokes, It's time for some food." Nicole was waking him for breakfast. The night had gone by quickly after they took out his tube, he had only awakened once and that was because of a bad dream. His nurse had assured him that all was fine and he was safe, calming his flailing arms, which seemed to trying to remove the ants that possessed his body.

He opened his swollen eyes as far as they would open and stared up at his nurse, who was looking at him with concern.

"Hey, if you want to get out this room and into a private room then I suggest you attempt to drink this liquid breakfast." she smiled as she opened out the container of apple juice and prepared his jello.

His hand weakly pointed to the feeding tube, "I want this out." His voice sounded weak even to his own ears.

"Can't do until you are eating and you get a little stronger." She gave him a sympathetic smile, she knew that the tube was irritating his throat but she knew how weak he was and how his body had suffered being in the cold ground for so many hours. He needed the nutrition to help him get back on his feet again.

She assisted him in getting into a good position to attempt to eat and placed the liquid tray in front of him, hoping that he would at least try, he had been through so much in such a short length of time.

"I hate jello." he muttered.

"Listen, my shift is over in a few minutes. Grace will be your nurse again this morning." she announced as she sat down and went about her charting, glancing over at her patient to see if he was attempting his meal and noticing he was mostly just staring at it like it just might bite him.

"You want me to help you, I know the bandages are cumbersome." she stood and walked back to his bed.

"No, I'm just not hungry." he mumbled, pushing the tray away.

"Listen, I know that green jello is not a breakfast food and I know that you hate being here but you have to try." She paused then continued cautiously, "You've been through a lot. I can not even imagine what you suffered, I don't think anybody could." Again repositioning the tray in front of her patient.

"Nobody would want to know." he wanted to change the subject, maybe trying the jello would quieten the red headed nurse.

She nodded in understanding to the statement that he was just really wasn't ready to talk about being in the box. She watched as he half-heartedly picked up the plastic spoon and attempted a bite, the grimace on his face spoke volumes as to how much the feeding tube was bothering his throat.

She sat back down to finish her charting allowing him to play with his food because that is what he was doing, she was not fooled that this was an attempt to keep conversation at bay.

Dr Allen entered the room and smiled at his patient, " Well, you are healing nicely Mr Stokes. I might just allow you to move to a step down unit today if you keep this up." He opened the chart and noted that his fever was under control, still there but much improved by the antibiotics.

"When Can I go home?" his voice low, as if he was afraid of the answer.

"Well. You have a few things to overcome. You are getting better but you are not well yet. You have been out of it for a couple of days so let's review some of the things that you are dealing with right now. First, you have pneumonia, which you are receiving antibiotics, and a couple cracked ribs, which are really going to hurt once I stop the continuous intravenous pain medications."

He could not help the impact of the ground as he was pulled from the box, the wind had been knocked out of him, his body in shock.

"You also have several hundred bad ant bites that caused you to go into anaphylactic shock which has caused havoc on all your systems, especially your heart. And during the blast you received a fairly nasty second degree burn to your lower back." Dr Allen paused, "I also want to get a psychologist to speak to you, you've been through a horrible ordeal, and no matter how strong you think you are Mr Stokes, nobody could suffer what you did and not be affected to some degree."

He just bit his lip as he listened to the litany of problems that he was suffering but he did not want to talk to anybody about his ordeal, he did not want to talk about it at all, it was horrible and he just wanted to leave it at that and move on with his life.

"I just want to go home. " He pushed the tray back and leaned his head against his pillow in defeat, "I feel fine now."

"That's because we have you on a lot of meds. This feeling will not last long after we take you off the intravenous pain medications and the sedative." He walked over and put a hand on his patient's shoulder. "Mr Stokes, let us help you get through this, don't rush it, one step at a time."

Nicole had sat quietly listening to the conversation, she knew he was in denial, his mind was having a difficult time accepting all that he had suffered, it was going to be rough for this cowboy, he was stubborn and might find it hard to accept help from anybody, the type that thinks they are too tough to hurt and to stubborn to want anybody's help.

Dr Allen walked back towards the door out of the cubicle, "I will do my best to get you in a step down room today, so your family can spend some time with you."

He nodded but he hated that thought too. His father would expect him to cowboy up and be a man, no time for feeling sorry for yourself, it was not Stokes-like. He looked over at his nurse and starred at her for a few minutes and then closed his eyes. The visit and his attempt to eat hand worn him out completely and he drifted off to sleep.

Nicole finished charting and was ready to leave when the charge nurse entered the room."Nikki,I'm sorry but Grace is running late can you stay for a little bit longer?"

She felt exhausted,glancing over at her still patient she agreed, "Sure, bee glad too." She really did not want to leave him, she felt that he needed her.

She pulled her hair back in a pony tail and sat down to chart.

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Shift was over and Greg wanted to run to the hospital to see if Nick was doing better. He shut his locker and pulled his jacket own when he turned he saw Grissom standing at the doorway.

"Hey, where you going?" Grissom asked hoping to hear that Greg would going to the hospital.

"I thought I would would drop by the hospital and see if Nick was out of the ICU."

"Sounds good. Tell Nick I said hey. I'll be there after I finish up my paperwork." he turned to leave when he turned back towards Greg.

"Are you okay?"

Grissom always made him feel nervous, he felt that he had a lot of making up to do in the maturity department, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Good. I'll see you after while." Grissom smiled at the young man.

He grabbed up his bag and headed out the door, he could feel his boss's eyes watch him leave. He had not answered honestly, the whole abduction had bothered him a lot. He felt so bad for Nick and knew this was going to be a rough ride for all of them.

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Warrick arrived back at the hospital earlier than he thought he would, unable to sleep he settled for a shower and clean clothes. Now he sat in the waiting room awaiting his turn to visit Nick. He glanced around nervously at the overcrowded room and felt out of place. A familiar voice shook him from his thoughts.

"How's he doing?" Sara asked as she took a seat by Warrick.

"He was actually awake last time I saw him and they had the tube out of his throat." he took in her tired appearance, he knew that Sara acted tough but he knew the close relationship that she had with Nick, they were best friends, he could talk to her about things he could not talk to him about.

"That's terrific. I can't wait to see him" She smiled and picked up a magazine, hoping that she would not breakdown seeing him actually for the second time since his arrival to the hospital, she did get a glance of him in that hole though and the hastened movement of her friend into the awaiting ambulance. She could not get the image of her best friend out of her mind, the image of his gun pressed to his chin ready to pull the trigger, the image of Nick covered with ants and the agonizing expression on his reddened face. Her friend lying on the cold ground, in shock, unable to talk or move due to fear that something else could happen.

It was time to visit and the line was fairly long to get a moment, but she was last in line with Warrick and she waited patiently as the family told Nick how glad they were he was doing better, but from her view Nick was not doing well at all. His pale skin covered in hundreds of ant bites, eyes swollen, his raspy breathing from his pneumonia along with a harsh cough that had to hurt given the grimace on his face.

As the family left time was running out and she walked up to him she grinned a small grin, "You look like Hell,"

He threw up a weak hand and let out a small raspy laugh, "Feel it too." he replied in a whispered voice.

"Can I get you anything?" she felt nervous, what could she say to her friend, 'sorry that you were buried, but you need to get over it and get back to work.' It was awkward and frightening all at the same time and yet he seemed more concerned for her as he reached out and took her hand.

"I'm fine." pausing a second to get his breath, "Promise."

"Okay, I guess I need to go home and sleep, gotta be back to work tonight." she was getting ready to leave when she turned, "When you get a private room I will bring your playstation three."

"You know what I like." He grinned his big Nick smile and waved good-bye. The visits had exhausted him and he was about to close his eyes when he heard Warrick.

"You don't fool me man." he pulled up the seat that Nicole had previously sat in to chart and shook his head at his friend.

Nick played dumb, "What are you talking about man, I'm fine."

"I'm not stupid Nick, you are hurting", he paused for a second then continued. "On the inside man and you need to let it out or it will eat you up."

Warrick's look of concern made Nick close his eyes and wish he would just leave him alone. The only response he could give was contrived,

"I'm fine, I just need to go home."

"That may take some time if you don't allow yourself to heal physically and mentally." Warrick looked into his friend's eyes attempting to get a glimpse of what he was really feeling.

Nick refused allow the intrusion into his private world of pain, what the hell did Warrick know about his suffering, he wasn't in that damned god forsaken box. "You don't understand."

"Nick, what don't I understand? That you suffered enough to want to end it with a gun shot to your head. We suffered right along with you, we were in that box with you man. We had to watch."

Now that statement made him focus his eyes on Warrick with a dead stare and the look of pain took Warrick by surprise.

"What do you mean you had to watch?" Nick's weakened voice now filled with anger.

"Gordan sent a connection that allowed us to see into the box. We had a live feed, we were the damned reason that stupid light came on for so long man, we didn't know that it was connected to the fan, your source of air." Warrick's eyes were filled with tears, upset that he had hurt his friend even more by leaving on the light.

They watched his suffering propbably even contributed to it in a small way and now he was suppose to live with that new fact, they saw him lose it, they saw him pray to God for his life and cry like a child? Tears welled up in his eyes and emotion overtook him, he was angry and humiliated at the same time."I'm tired and I want to be alone."

Warrick had not meant to let it slip,"I'm sorry man." He stood and left.

Nicole came back to the room after the last visitor left and she noted that he was upset but decided that he needed a release, so she allowed him his quiet time.

She turned her head and allowed the cowboy to cry, the pain evident in his soft sobs. She felt helpless to comfort him, he did not know her and might feel that she was being insincere. He would not understand that she was falling for him, even she could not understand this strong attachment she feeling for this almost total stranger that had come into her life less than seventy-two hours ago.

After a few seconds she turned and picked up his bandaged hand, looking into his sad brown eyes, "Hey, I'm a good listener."

His own words echoing into his ears he smiled and shook his head, "I can't talk about it yet." He reached up and rubbed a sore spot underneath were a salted tear had fallen."It hurts too much."

She nodded, "I think I understand." She picked up her stethoscope and placed it on his chest, noting that her touch sped up his heart a few beats and that he was watching her as she assessed his abdomen again.

"I know you." The words took her by surprise.

"You do?" she smiled and removed the stethoscope from her ears.

"You were in the emergency room. I remember you. You're gentle voice and kind manner." He shrugged and smiled, "That's about all I remember though."

"You were drugged." she laughed, seeing that her patient was in a better mood than a few minutes earlier.

"Yeah, kinda glad I was, that tube probably would have hurt if I were awake." He threw her a smile that could turn glass into diamonds.

She blushed, not use to falling for her patients, it had never happened and yet she was falling all over this cowboy with his southern drawl to die for and his sweet manner.

"Listen you need to rest before that doctor decides to give you a shot of Valium. You are a very sick man still and as much as I love to hear you talk, I know it is not good for your voice. So rest."

Nick nodded and turned to his right side,his head still elevated for the tube feeding and almost immediately went back to sleep.

She stared at him for a few minutes and looked up to see her replacement, "Hey Grace, how are you this morning."

"Sorry I'm late, how is he doing?" Graced asked as she started gowning.

"Physically he is better but he is suffering emotionally." her voice quite as she talked about her sleeping patient.

"It had to be a horrible experience." Nicole's hand automatically started brushing back his sweaty hair.

Grace nodded and began her work, it would be a long day.

Nicole pulled off her gown and walked towards the nursing station to await Grace for report. She would come back later tonight if the emergency room wasn't too busy.


	6. Chapter 6

Author: Nicksfriend

Rating:

Spoilers: Grave Danger

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...that is for sure.

Author's note:This is my first CSI fic. Please be gentle.

Grace I just read Dr Allen's notes and I feel we can send Mr Stokes to a step-down unit." Dr Mason finished assessing his patient. " He is doing much better today."

"I'll get a bed." she started getting Nick ready for transfer.

When he awoke he was in a different room, there were family members crowded in the room spilling out into the hallway. He felt surrounded and claustrophobic. How does one go from isolation to an overwhelming crowd he thought to himself. He just closed his eyes hoping that nobody had noticed his momentary alertness.

"Nicky, you awake?" Rebecca had seen her brother open his eyes and close them quickly. She was concerned for her brother and wanted him to say that he was fine, everything would be fine.

He could not hide anything from his youngest sister, she was like a fox. Always tuned into everything about him, he opened his eyes again which were still swollen and looked at his beautiful sister. "Hey." giving her a half smile.

She smiled back and leaned down and gave him a hug, careful not to dislodge any tubes, he might be in a room but it was still critical care and he was still attached to many wires and tubes. "Glad you are awake, you scared us."

"Me too." he did not want to get into the emotional part of his experience and how it had an effect on everybody. In all honesty all he wanted was peace and quiet. As he took in the presence of all his brothers and sisters and mom and dad he knew that peace and quiet were not going to happen for a long time.

"Well, Nick you finally decide to wake up and let us know that you really are amongst the living?" his brother was attempting to make his brother smile but instead it made Nick cringe somewhat,the thought of dying being a big part of his thoughts for the last few days.

"I knew I had a reason for hanging on, must have been you brother." His voice still gravely from the abuse of the past few days and the still ever present feeding tube.

John smiled and patted his brother on the leg, being cautious as not to bother the multiple ant bites covered with gauze. "Had to be Nick. Had to be." his brother's voice cracking with emotion.

Nick needed a distraction, all eyes were focused on him and that made him feel very uncomfortable. His mother looked so tired and his father was his usual stoic self, looking at him with a look of disappointment. He knew that his father was probably upset with him for being so negligent in allowing this man to capture him and put him into the ground, it had to be embarrassing to have such a foolish son. John would have never let his father down, he was the oldest son, the one who now held the DA position. All he could say was that he was a CSI,and probably the only one on the team that would have put in the position of being caught. Grissom had to be disappointed that Nick Stokes could not protect himself.

"Hey Nick, you okay?" John asked his little brother who seemed to be elsewhere.

"Yeah, just tired." Nick lied. Actually he wanted to get up and in all honesty he wanted to walk out of the building and go home.

"The nurse wants us to limit our visit so we are going to have to leave but she said that one of us could stay." Elizabeth spoke up noticing that her brother was overwhelmed by the crowd.

"I'll stay with Nick." His mother spoke up wanting to spend time with her son.

A large noise in the hallway took the attention towards the door and suddenly a camera was flashing and police were all over the hallway.

Elizabeth ran to the door and quickly closed it, not allowing any more intrusion from the noise or the cameras. "Sorry Nick, but you are headline news right now. You are all they can talk about on television."

That news caused his stomach to churn and he was suddenly feeling very nauseated, "Can you get my nurse please."

Elizabeth hit the nurse's button and within a few seconds a nurse entered the room, "Hi Mr Stokes my name is Cathy. Are you okay?"

"I feel sick to my stomach." He felt that the feeding in the tube was going to come up, he could feel the acid burning in the back of his throat.

The nurse quickly grabbed a pan and asked that the family leave the room for a few minutes to which they complied quickly. She cut off the feeding and sat him up a little bit higher, grabbing a clean cloth and wetting it with cool water she squeezed out the excess and placed it on his forehead.

"I'm going to get you some phenergan for your nausea, it will take a few minutes. Will you be okay?" she asked as she tried to offer comfort.

"Too many people in the room. I just want to be alone for awhile." He paused and looked at his nurse who seemed to honestly care about her patient, "Please."

She nodded, "I'll take care of it, and I will make it look as if it is my idea." She winked at him and left to get the medicine.

Now alone he actually felt better. He needed some answers so he reached for the remote and turned on the television, what he saw was the grave he had been a part of just days ago. It was days ago wasn't it, he thought to himself, his concept of time was not good. He turned up the volume and listened to the reporter as she told the story of Nicholas Stokes, Crime Scene Investigator, a man who was taken from a crime scene, rather kidnapped from a crime scene and buried alive. Walter Gordan's picture came across the screen with all the details one would want to know about their abduction and even the ants had their time on the tube.

He felt ill, more mentally than physically. How could he live this down, the television was portraying him as a hero but he was no hero, he was a disappointment. He should of never left the officer's sight, he knew the rules.

"Dammit, dammit." He rolled over and vomited, missing the pan and hitting the floor and bed. He dry heaved for several seconds and then reached up and pulled out the feeding tube, he was not going to fed against his will. He did not want to be bothered with tubes or catheters. He just wanted to go home and be normal.

He attempted to get up but he was too weak, even the slightest movement caused him to have waves of dizziness and pain in his rib cage. "I just want to go home." he whispered to himself.

The door opened and the nurse looked at him with surprise, "Mr Stokes where do you think you're going?" She ran to his side and noticed the large amount of emesis on the floor and bed. "Lie back down, I need to give you this medicine and then I will clean you up." She quickly inserted the syringe into the IV tubing and pushed the medicine.

"I want to go home." His eyes starring at her hoping that she would just allow him to leave. He just wanted to go home.

She shook her head as she cleaned up the emesis and picked up the feeding tube."Mr Stokes, you don't get it. You are still too sick to leave. You might be out of ICU but you are still a very sick man." She reached up and placed her gloved hand on his shoulder,"Let me take care of you, I promise nobody will bother you here."

"No visitors, I want to be alone." The expression on his face told her that he was pleading for time to work things out, time to process all that he had lived through.

Cathy agreed and continued to clean up her patient, cleaning up the emesis on the floor and changing her patient's sheets. The nausea medication was starting to have an effect on him and he was nodding back off to sleep. When she was finished she left the room closing the door tightly, leaving her patient to rest.

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Gregg flashed his badge and was allowed to walk down the hallway to Nick's room. He needed to see his friend even though the rest of his family had been told no more visitors for the day. He felt that Nick had spent too much time alone in the box, he was unable to watch the video past the initial viewing. He could not watch his friend suffer and he felt it was almost like invading something so private. Suffering should most definitely should be a private matter, he thought to himself as he made his way down the sterile hallway.

He found Nick's room easily it was definitely the one guarded by two fairly large officers.

He pulled out his badge again and flashed it. "I'm here to get his statement for the police report."

The officer to the right of the door looked his badge over carefully and opened the door to allow him to enter into Nick's dark room.

When he closed the door Gregg walked over to Nick, who now was laying on his side sleeping, wires and monitors still attached. The low hum of the machinery filled the room and he felt that he should remain quiet and allow his friend to sleep.

"Hey Gregg." A very tired and groggy voice greeted him.

Gregg smiled,"Hey man, I thought you were asleep."

"I was until you woke me up." He slowly rolled over, the bites more prevalent from the frontal view as he flipped on the overhead light.

"Sorry, I just wanted to see you. Make sure you were okay." He seemed nervous and fidgety.

"Thanks, it means a lot." He would much rather be alone but Gregg was his friend and he really did not mind seeing his friend.

"You are definitely making the news today." He pulled up a chair and sat down so that Nick would not have to try to focus his swollen eyes on him.

"Yeah, nothing better to cover I guess." He tried to sit up more but his ribs were shouting at him so he just laid still. He would ask Cathy for pain medication when Gregg left.

Gregg looked around the room at he multitude of plants and flowers and cards. The family must have spent a small fortune just at the florist. Suddenly he remembered the red ants and that the hung out at flower nurseries. "Hey Nick it might not be such a great idea for all these flowers to be around you man, one red ant bite and your back in ICU." The words slipped from his mouth before he could really think what effect it might have on Nick.

Nick with his limited vision due to the swelling around his eyes perked up and noticed the flowers too. "Get them out Greg, take them to wherever but just get them out." His voice cracking revealing his anxiety over the realization that he was surrounded by plants.

Gregg hit the nurse call light and then stood and opened the door, after a few seconds talking with the officers and the nurse the flowers and plants were removed.

"Better?" Gregg asked pleased with his observance of a more relaxed Nick. He felt as if he had helped his friend in some small way.

"Thanks man, I owe you." Nick lay back down and pushed his arm to his side to comfort the broken ribs that were now yelling out loudly for something to ease the pain. He remembered Dr Allen's words that he was going to suffer more when he stopped his intravenous medications and sedative.

"Yeah you do. Big time actually!" Greg seemed happy with himself.

"Can you do me one more favor?" he asked wanting to relieve the pain in his side, "Can you ask my nurse to bring me something for these ribs, they are killing me.", moaning as he tried to reposition himself in bed to get more comfortable but failing miserably.

"Sure Nick." He reached down and pushed the button again and the nurse immediately was at the door.

"Mr Stokes are you okay?" Concerned by the grimace on her patient's face.

"His ribs hurt. Can he get something for pain?" Gregg asked feeling bad about the pain that he and the rest of the team and a few officers had actually created by yanking him out of the hole, he had fallen hard to the ground. The imagine of his friend lying there cold and in shock would be forever etched in his memory.

"Sure, I'll be right back" She exited the room to get the medication.

"That's two you owe me man." Gregg smiled over at his friend.

"I can count Greg." he shook his head, "Why do I know that payback will be hell?"

"You know me too well Nick. Too, too well." Gregg stood and walked over to the window, looking out to a crowd of photo hogs and journalists, all trying to get a glimpse of a man who had survived being buried alive. Heck by next week they would probably have a new reality show called 'Buried Alive'.

Cathy came back into the room with his pain medication and placed it into his IV." You should feel better soon, if you don't then you need to call me."

Nick nodded and reached for his extra pillow and pulled it to his chest to hug, he needed to get some relief.

"Hey I am going to let you rest. I'll sneak back up later." Greg smiled at his friend and quickly exited the room.

Nick waved weakly to his friend, "Later."

Nick could not help but to grin at his friend's admission of having to sneak into his room, he was honestly glad he did, it was good to see his friend.

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Grissom hated to have to be the one to get Nick's statement but it had to be done for the report, Warrick had called and told him that Nick had been transferred to a step-down unit under heavy security, the paparazzi had been attempting to get shots of Nick and one had almost succeeded.

As he made his way down the hallway showing his badge he finally made it to Nick's door, two security guards stood watch and took the badge into consideration.

"What is your business with Mr Stokes?" The younger officer asked as he looked at Grissom's picture on his badge.

"I'm here to get his statement for the police report." Grissom was getting agitated that he was getting interrogated by one of their own.

"Sir, someone came earlier and got that statement." He handed Grissom the badge back and became more protective of the door.

A deep voice came from behind,"Step away officer Stone, this is CSI Grissom." Brass was in a foul mood ever since the last guy tried to take Nick's picture, his no nonsense look gave the officer all he needed to step aside.

"Sorry Gil, we had an incident earlier and we are just a little bit on edge." Brass stepped towards the door and opened it to allow Grissom to enter.

"It's fine, I appreciate his eagerness to protect Nick." Grissom entered the darkened room, it was quiet and he could see Nick laying on his right side sleeping.

They entered and sat down in the vacant chairs, Grissom wondered inwardly where the family had gone. He knew they were a very protective group and he was concerned that the family might feel he was more of an intrusion that a friend come to visit.

Brass reached down and cut off his radio and placed his cell on vibrate, Grissom did the same. They did not have to wait long before Nick started to awaken at least that is what they thought but suddenly it was clear to them both that their friend was having a terrible dream.

"_Hi CSI guy, you should have died in that box. Now you will have to suffer being alive. You will wish that you had taken that gun to your head and used it. You were chicken, you couldn't even pull the trigger. Did you think your friends would always be there to stop you from pulling the trigger, I don't think so, you will pull the trigger, eventually. I will be there when you do."_

_The ants were suddenly everywhere and he had to get them off, they were biting him and he could not get out of the box. His hands started flailing about and he was feeling as if somebody was trying to stop him from knocking off the ants, it had to be Gordan. Gordan wanted him dead, he wanted the ants to eat him. Eat him alive._

"_Nooooooo. Help me, please somebody help me." He screamed but he knew that nobody could hear him in the box. The box was buried underneath several feet of dirt, nobody could find him. Nobody could hear him, Gordan wanted him to die._

"Nick, wake up, you're having a nightmare. Nick, wake up." Grissom tried to comfort him but he was in the middle of a terrifying nightmare.

Brass tried to keep Nick from pulling out his IV but to no avail, the line went flying and blood was everywhere.

"Pancho, stop!" Grissom yelled, hoping to break through the nightmarish fog.

Nick stopped, he could hear a familiar voice, had to be his dad, only his dad knew his nickname. "Cisco!", he waited for a reply, his father would save him, his father would not allow Gordan to hurt him.

Grissom looked over at Brass and nodded.

"Pancho, you need to lie still. You are safe son, just lie still and let us help you." Brass hoped his older voice would break through Nick's panic. He just wanted Nicky to wake up and see that he was safe.

Nick's movements stopped and he opened his eyes expecting his father but surprised to see Brass and Grissom. "Dam."

He reached up and rubbed at his eyes, it had been a dream, correction, nightmare and the two men he respected more than his own father were standing there looking at him as if he were on fire. "Sorry." was all that he could manage to say after all that he knew that he had put them through with his whimpering. Maybe Gordan was right, maybe he should have died.

"It's okay Nick, it was a bad dream. It is normal to have recurrences of a bad event replay in your mind, we all do it, it's normal." Grissom tried to comfort Nick but knew that Nick was probably not hearing the words or at least unable to process them right now.

"Hey, Nicky, it will pass, it just takes time, trust me." Brass removed his hand from restraining Nick's arm and reached down to call the nurse. The pump was still pushing out the fluids but they were going onto the floor and the place where the IV had been was still bleeding. They needed assistance.

When the nurse entered she was shocked at the mess and looked at the two older men in disbelief. "What happened?" she asked as she reached over and turned off the IV pump.

Nick knew that he was going to give himself some major psychotherapy with his answer but he needed to fess up, "Bad dream, sorry." He tried to sit up but the pain in his ribcage stopped him.

The nurse reached over and stopped his movements with her hand on his shoulder. "You need to lie still and let me do my job. She reached into her pocket and pulled out some gauze packets,ripped them open and applied pressure to the IV site. "I'm going to have to restart this IV first so you can get your antibiotic. It's not quiet time for your pain med but I will ask Dr Mason and see if you can have something else to hold you over until it is time."

"I really am fine and I really don't want another needle stuck in my arm." He looked over at Brass and Grissom who were giving him the, you better do what she tells you look or we will hold you down and you will get it done. He rolled his eyes at the situation. He just wanted to go home.

Cathy quickly cleaned the mess and threw the old IV line and bag into the trash, it was contaminated."I will be back in a few minutes. I want to talk to Dr Mason." Exiting the room with urgency.

Grissom and Brass had relegated themselves to the corner of the room to watch the young man. They were taking in the appearance of their friend,pale skin covered in ant bites, face swollen, eyes swollen almost completely, scratches and bruises on his arms and face from being yanked from the grave.

"I'm fine, really." Nick's voice was just above a whisper.

"Sure, and I'm superman." replied Brass under his breath.

Grissom looked at Brass and gave a small nod, then returned his attention back to Nick. "We came to get your statement. This may be a bad time though."

"I said I'm fine. Sorry for the show." He felt embarrassed and he wanted to get the focus on something else.

"Nick, I'm not going to repeat this, so listen. This is normal but it will pass with time." Grissom approached Nick's bed and pulled up a chair.

Brass followed and sat on the opposite side. He watched as Grissom worked his magic with his young agent, still wondering where the hell he had gotten the name Pancho, mental note, need to ask Grissom about nickname.

"Yeah, sure." He played with the blanket for a few seconds and looked up at Grissom, "I really don't remember much prior to being in the box. I guess I didn't follow protocol, it's kinda my fault."

"What do you mean Nick?" Grissom leaned forward propping his arms on his knees.

"The officer was vomiting, the smell from the crime scene got to him and he was sick. I just kept processing the scene, and I walked out of the officer's site. I made a rookie mistake,I guess I deserved what I got." He was unable to look at his bosses in the eyes, instead he just stared at his blanket.

Brass shook his head and rubbed at the stubble on his face, his officer had let Nick down and now Nick was trying to take the blame. This kid needed a medal for all that he endured and he was feeling guilty that he hadn't followed protocol. What the hell?

Grissom shook his head,"Nick, it's not your fault. The man was sick and he would have kept trying to harm you regardless of the officer, he might of even shot the officer if he had tried to save you. I don't think anybody really knows except the man who blew himself up."

Nick bit his lip only to be reminded that he had ant bites on them and he stopped immediately due to the pain."He blew himself up?"

"Yeah and he wanted to take a few officers with him but he was wrong. He ended up just killing himself." Brass informed Nick of the one event that he felt that Nicky needed to hear, and that was the man was dead.

"Why? I mean,he had to have a reason." Nick was now focused on Brass for the answer.

"We think that he was taking out some revenge for his daughter Kelly Gordan. She is serving a five year prison sentence for accessory to murder. CSI had processed the evidence that had put her away, a Styrofoam cup."

Immediately Nick understood, the cup in the fake evidence bag, it was a lure to get him over to him, he had followed the evidence right to the part where he was kidnapped. The device to allow his friends to watch, it was how he looked at his daughter, helpless in watching her suffer whatever she had to go through in prison, a father's pain. This sick man wanted the team to feel the same pain that he was feeling,it made sense. "I think I understand. I was payback for his daughter's suffering."

Grissom knew that Nick would get it, he had an uncanny way of empathizing with the victims. He knew that Nick would have immediate understanding and here he was doing just what he thought Nick would do with the information he was just given. "I knew you would get it Nick."

He nodded his head, in thought. A distant look on his face, it all made sense now.

The nurse opened the door with Dr Mason in tow, "I hear you pulled out a lot of our hard work. How are you feeling?"

"Actually better." All he wanted to do was go home and if he had to lie to get there then so be it, he hated hospitals.

"Well, in some ways you are doing better but you are still a very sick man and you need your antibiotics so let Cathy get that IV back in your arm. As for the feeding tube that came out earlier, I will leave it out if you eat, but if you don't then it will have to go back down. Your body needs the nutrition to heal properly." Dr Mason approached the bed pulling out his stethoscope and placing it on his patient's chest and listening for several seconds."You're still wheezing." he looked around towards Cathy, "Call respiratory and tell them he needs a stat treatment, I think he is still on Xopenex but if that doesn't work then go with the duonebs, his heart is not beating as fast as it was when he came into the ER."

Cathy nodded and left the room to call the respiratory therapist.

"When can I go home?" Nick wanted a tentative answer.

"I think that all depends on you Mr Stokes. Physically you are improving, the pneumonia is still a problem but the xrays are showing me that it is improving. The ant bites are still a concern but even I can tell that they are better too." He looked over to his patient's company and stopped from going into the psychological aspects, "I hear you have been having bad dreams, which I am sure you've been told are normal but I do want you to talk to someone here at the hospital , I am sure it is standard protocol for any officer hurt in the line of duty to speak to a psychologist."

Brass and Grissom both nodded in agreement.

Nick had already had that thought but was not looking forward to sharing anything with a stranger."Can I get out of this bed?"

"Listen, you eat and I will get physical therapy to see you this evening to start helping to get you in a chair. I'll check back before I leave to see how you are doing." Dr Mason turned and left the room writing as he walked out the door.

Cathy walked back into the room with the respiratory therapist and a lot of IV paraphernalia, it was going to be a very long afternoon. Brass and Grissom saw it as their cue to leave and they both headed for the door.

"We'll see you later Nick. We need to process some of the crime scene still but we will be back later tonight." Grissom informed him as he was walking out the door.

Brass waved and exited through the door with Grissom.

Cathy started to work and the respiratory therapist placed a mask over his face to give the treatment but the process only made Nick more tense, it reminded him of the cloth that Gordan had covered his face with and he immediately had to pull it away.

"You need to leave that alone." the young therapist reprimanded Nick for removing the mask.

"I can't. I just can't." he knew it sounded stupid but he could not allow anything on his face.

"Can't he use the pipe, he is more alert now." Cathy chimed in to assist her patient.

The therapist nodded and changed the mask to the pipe and gave it to Nick who seemed grateful that someone understood. He nodded his thanks to Cathy who was preparing his arm for the new angiocath. He hated needles and he hated being in the hospital.

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Nicole wanted to see her favorite patient before she had to be at work. Getting through all the security was a feat unto itself but she had made it, she knocked on the door lightly as if not to disturb him if he was sleeping. Two security agents flanking her on both sides.

She opened the door and saw several people standing in the room, one of which had to be Nick's brother, he was almost the spitting image of the man in the bed but he was taller with less muscle.

"I'm Nicole, I was Mr Stokes nurse in ICU." She smiled and greeted the family who were keeping watch over the sleeping form in the bed. "I brought him some soup, I thought he might like it better than the jello."

"That is very thoughtful of you dear." a sweet voice responded and an older lady came around to the door to greet her.

Nicole recognized her immediately as Nick's mother. She gave her a hug and the mother motioned for her to get closer to Nick.

Nick recognized the kind voice and opened his eyes,"I thought I wouldn't see you again."

"Can't get rid of me that easily. I stopped and got you some soup from the Chinese restaurant near my house, thought it might be better than green jello." She smiled and sat the bag down on his table noting that his dinner tray had not been touched.

"If you don't mind we are going to run to the cafeteria for a few minutes to grab a bite." Nick's mother announced as she picked up her purse, Nick's father and brother looked surprised at the announcement.

"Please, I don't have to be at work for another hour. I would love to just visit." Nicole pulled off her jacket and pulled up a seat as Nick's family left the room.

"Cathy told me that you are about to earn that feeding tube again." She pointed towards the uneaten tray of liquids that still sat on the bedside table.

"I'm not hungry." He was attempting to avoid eye contact, he just wanted to be left alone.

Nicole reached into the bag and brought out the chicken broth and poured some into a cup and placed a straw inside and held it up to his lips."Drink cowboy or they will put that tube back down with or without your permission. They've wrangled bigger guys than you and trust me you don't want that to happen because it includes a nice little pair of hand restraints to help keep in down." she gave him a sad face.

He reached up and took the broth from Nicole, taking a small sip. He made a face, "It needs salt."

"You are one picky eater." She reached over to the tray and pulled out the silverware packet, which included a salt packet. She opened the salt packet and poured some into the cup of broth and stirred it with a straw. Holding it back to his lips he took another sip. "Better?"

He nodded and finished the cup of broth."Thank You."

"No problem." She then opened up the container of apple juice and placed a clean straw inside,"Drink."

He again nodded and drank the offered juice, allowing her to hold the container.

"That's much better. Let's make sure you keep that down before we try anything else." She removed the tray and sat down beside him, taking a moment to fluff his pillow and to adjust his blankets.

"You treat all your patient's like this?" he asked, noticing for the first time how beautiful this woman before him appeared. Her bedside manner was as gentle as a cool breeze.

"Only cowboys." she smiled, her cheeks turning a light pink.

"Awww, so if I weren't a cowboy I would be just another patient with lots of tubes for you to play with?" he gave her one of his genuine smiles.

"Yep, guess you would." She couldn't help but to let out a giggle, trying not to be so obvious about her feelings for this man before her but failing miserably.

"Thanks." His facial expression changed back to a sad smile.

"For what?" She asked confused at his turn of mood .

"For caring." He reached over and took her hand and gave it a small squeeze."It means a lot Nicole."

"Cowboy, it is my pleasure. By the way call me Nikki." looking down and noticing that her hand was still in his, his touch so gentle it made her blush again.

"Stay awhile?" he asked,feeling a connection with the beautiful lady beside him.

"I'll be here for a while, you just rest." She gave his hand a soft squeeze and watched as his eyes drifted back to sleep. Her heart thumping in her chest. No man had ever made her feel like this before.

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Hopefully this very long chapter will make up for being so late in posting but I need feedback like all writers so talk to me people!Please...

Also my sadness of the news today that Warrick (Gary Dourdan) will be leaving CSI. I always thought that there was no better friendship on television that Warrick and Nick. I will dedicate my next chapter to this friendship!


	7. Chapter 7

Author: Nicksfriend

Rating:

Spoilers: Grave Danger

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...that is for sure.

Author's note:This is my first CSI fic. Please be gentle.

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Thanks for being patient, I got a wild hair

**Where did he go and What happened post Stalker**

and went with it...and for all of you who went with me...thanks!

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I want to dedicate this chapter to the man love, the friendship we have got to share for almost eight years, the friendship of Warrick and Nick, as many of you have read it is a high possibility that Gary Dourdan will leave the show after this season and another source that stated that he will leave in high fashion, though I hope it is not so I honestly want resolution to this friendship, in my opinion there is no other friendship like it in television!

So here is to that friendship! Here is to the man love!

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The Physical therapist had gotten him into a sitting position without any problem and now he sat in a chair facing the window. He sat in silence, visiting hours officially over, in the dimly lit room.

He heard a small knock on the door and then he heard the door open then shut again. It was late and the beautiful nurse, Nikki had gone back to work, he turned his head expecting the red head when he saw Warrick. Their last visit in ICU had been less than stellar.

"Hey Nick." Warrick's voice sounded like that of an old and tired man, gravely and low.

Nick, turned away, facing the window again, his back to the man who had just entered, held up a hand in recognition of his friend.

"We need to talk." He pulled a chair up beside Nick, taking a moment to pat his friend gently on the back before sitting, but Nick gave no response.

Silence can be a beautiful thing but not when it is between two friends, Warrick thought to himself, he knew Nick was upset with the video feed in the box but his friend needed to understand the significance it played in the ordeal.

Nick continued to sit in silence in the dimly lit room,starring out the window, deep in thought, ignoring the presence of Warrick, he knew it was childish but nothing was making sense anymore, especially what he was feeling inside.

"I hope you know that we didn't mean to hurt you man, we just wanted to be there with you so bad that we could not leave you in that box, in the dark." His voice cracking with emotion.

After a few seconds he continued,"Somehow we thought you might realize that your friends were there with you,I guess we should have figured it out that we were creating more pain for you by stopping the fan, but you did, you shot out the light." Warrick stopped talking the emotion that moment alone brought back was too much, he had thought he had lost his best friend. He wanted Nick to understand why they did what they did.

"I thought I had lost my best friend." Warrick mumbled it low, it was almost inaudible.

Nick remembering that moment, how he had taken his gun, made the decision to soot out the light afixed to the plexiglass, it was his decision to compromise the integrity of the box, knowing that insects could possibly enter but he never counted on red ants, by the thousands.

Just being able to breathe was more important at that moment, to be able to be cool again,he knew the consequences of the behavior but in desperation he did what he did and his friends should feel no guilt, then suddenly it dawned on him how it must of looked in their eyes, as if he were ending it right there and his heart sank.

Suddenly he was filled with tremendous guilt, realizing that he had hurt someone he cared about the most with his anger towards them for attempting to help him. It must of frightened them, the thought of him being in the dark. The thought that he might die and they would have to watch. They wouldn't have been able to walk away, they would not have been able to allow him to die alone, they would have stayed as close as they could, even if it were a video screen.

Nick decided to break the silence that he had hoped to maintain for sudden realization hit him, they did nothing wrong, his friends had suffered too. He needed to make this right with Warrick.

"Grissom told me about Gordan and his revenge for his daughter. I do understand, I understand it all. I'm not mad at Kelly, his daughter, or even Gordan for that matter. He loved his daughter enough to die for her."

He paused to get a grip on the emotion that was welling up inside him but then continued," But honestly I think a part of him died the day his daughter entered that prison,he just made it official by blowing himself up."

Warrick leaned forward in his chair and starred, in the low lit room, down at the floor. "Yeah, but that does not make it right,what he did to you Nick. I saw how you suffered, those ants were trying to eat you alive man and we were helpless to assist you, helpless to let you know that we doing our best to find you."

Nick listened to the raw emotion that was flowing from his friend, the pain and anguish evident in his voice.

"When Catherine found your grave, I grabbed a shovel and I started digging, as if my life depended on it, I had figured out how much oxygen you had left in the god forsaken box and had set my watch, it went off and all I could think was 'Nicky just try to hold on man', then when I felt my shovel hit something, all I wanted to do was uncover that stupid box and let you know that I was there, that we were there."

He could hear Nick let out a throaty cry, he was reliving the moment with him, "When I saw that gun to your head, and I felt that your weren't going to stop pulling on that trigger, it was the most helpless I have ever felt in my life." Again he stopped talking, his own emotions overwhelming him but after a few seconds he continued, Nick needed to know.

"I thought I was going to lose my best friend." Now tears were flowing down his face, his hands were trembling, he then stood and walked around to look at his friend who was now crying too.

Nick had felt so angry, now that anger had to escape and it was, his body shook as the tears came. The pain that his friends had suffered evident in Warrick's voice. He looked up to see Warrick standing before him, his best friend in the world, a man who would have gladly changed places with him, a friend who would always be there no matter what.

He forced a small grin, tears streaming down his face,"I'm sorry man."

"For what man, for being human,if it hadn't been for that stupid coin I could have been in that box and I would never have lasted when those ants came to supper man, I would have checked out, but not you Nicky, you held on. You Texans are made tough." he joked, trying to lighten the moment.

Nick could not help but to laugh, "Yeah, we Texans are tough, but man if I could do it all over, I wouldn't have blown a hole in that damned box."

Warrick shook his head, "That's what saved you man."

"What are you talking about?" he asked confused at Warrick's statement.

"Grissom identified the red ant, it only is found in nurseries here in Las Vegas, they don't like our soil, we then narrowed it down using a trace on the feed and the mileage on the black box and then Sara came up with the nursery in that area by knowing that Kelly had worked there prior to going to prison. The rest is history." Warrick now more in control of his emotions leaned back against the window sill, starring down at his friends wounds,unable to even fathom how much he must of suffered.

"Sounds like a real team effort, but I knew if anybody could figure it out, it would be our team, I was just waiting for you to come." Nick's voice lowered, again filled with raw emotion.

"Glad we didn't disappoint you Nicky." He held out his hand and Nick held out his and they pulled each other into a bear hug,Warrick careful not to hurt his friend,and they held on to each other for several seconds, allowing the emotion to be released for just that moment. Simultaneously they let go and Warrick stood back up

"Listen you need to sleep man, cos I am bringing the playstation three over tomorrow and we are gonna get down with some serious game." He laughed as he walked to the door.

"Man you know I can whip your ass Warrick, you don't mess with the player." He joked back, trying to keep the emotion that he was feeling at the moment inside.

"You are a player alright. In your dreams." He waved as he exited the room, knowing that Nick was going to be fine, it was just going to take some time and a whole lot of love and support from his Family and friends.

Nick smiled, down deep inside he knew what he had to do, get better and get back to work, he just had to find out how he was going to do it though, the pain and anger seemed better but the fear was still there, would it ever go away?

The dark quiet room almost feeling more comfortable since his time in the box, it allowed him to think.

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Hope you like...more real soon, maybe even tomorrow! Feedback is savored!


	8. Chapter 8

Author: Nicksfriend

Rating:

Spoilers: Grave Danger

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...that is for sure.

Author's note:This is my first CSI fic. Please be gentle.

I want to take a moment to thank all of you who have left words of encouragement. Each word or comment means something to the writer...it really effects how we see our writing sometimes and to rethink how we proceed other times. I can not thank you enough!

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He had been awakened by another dream, his hair was sweaty and his clothing now stuck to him like glue. He moved slowly trying to sit up in the bed but the pain in his side stopped anything big in the way of getting himself moved up in the bed on his own.

He looked around the room, it was empty. He breathed a sigh of relief that nobody had caught his latest nightmare. He looked up at the clock which showed that it was early morning, six -thirty, didn't he just go to sleep at five. Well, this was going to be another great day. He leaned his head back and just listened to the unintelligible voices in the hallway, the door muffling the sounds.

Suddenly he heard a knock at the door, then it opened, a man wearing a suit walked in,"Good morning Mr Stokes, my name is Dr Kasey." He walked over and shook Nick's hand with a firm grip then pulled up a seat.

"Are you a surgeon?" He asked not really knowing who all the doctor's were that had visited him over the past few days.

"No, I am the LVPD psychotherapist,I came by this morning more to introduce myself and start getting down to what is required for you to return to work."

"Which is what?" he sat up a little bit more in bed, he needed to convince this man that he was fine, a few bad dreams maybe, other than that he had forgiven his captor and was moving on with his life,and he needed to get back to work.

"I thought we could just talk for a moment." He opened his notepad and started jotting down some notes.

"Sure, what would you like to talk about?" He knew that he had to play the game, he had played it before when Nigel Crane had pushed him out of a window, he had made a mistake back then though, he had been honest and that mistake cost him, it took longer to get him back into the field, this time he had to play it smarter.

"How are you sleeping?" The EAP counselor asked with a bright smile.

He was not going to admit to only 90 minutes of sleep so he decided to be generalized, "Sleeping is not a big problem." Not really a lie when you put it on the grand scale to what was really bothering him, which seemed like everything.

After jotting down a couple of notes the doctor looked up at his patient and smiled,"Any bad dreams?"

Had Grissom or Brass talked to this man first? He had to be honest about this one just in case,"A couple,but they are getting better."

"How are they getting better Mr Stokes?" Again writing a few notes down with each question asked.

"At first they would wake me up but last night not as bad." He lied and his appearance was telling the doctor that he was lying. His hair was matted with sweat and his gown was still soaked with perspiration from his nightmare, and inwardly he was worried that this man could see right through his facade.

"Really?" Dr Kasey was taking in the worn out appearance of a CSI, who was probably use to going more than thirty-six hours in a day without sleep sometimes even more, but right now looked like Hell.

He had been caught, now he needed to back track without letting the doctor know that he was trying to lie."Okay, I had a really bad one this morning but it was better than the others."

"Do you think that maybe a mild sedative would assist you with sleep?" He asked without making any big deal of his patient trying to be a little less than truthful, he was use to it actually.

"Yeah, it might help." He admitted, wanting to get off the subject of sleep.

"I will order you a sedative." He paused and then looked back at his patient,"I need to ask some questions, and I need honest answers. Okay?" he laid down his pen and paper and leaned forward in his seat.

"Sure." He knew the barrage of questions that would be asked but he could be honest with these.

"Are you feeling helpless or feel the need to harm yourself?"

He felt like crying but he did not feel like doing himself harm so he spoke strongly when he said,"No, I don't feel helpless or suicidal." Then he questioned himself, didn't he try to do himself in? It had been due to the lack of air, surely that is what it was, the lack of air.

"Good, glad to hear that, You went through a tough ordeal, some people get through the trauma only to feel like ending it afterwards." He looked at his patient empathetically, seeing the wounds left behind of the multiple ant bites. "Did you think about ending it in the box?"

Busted, somebody had snitched that he had placed that damned gun to his head,gotta play this right or I will be in the psych ward tonight, he thought to himself before he answered."In the end, when my air was running out and I thought that there was no hope. I did place my gun to my head, I wanted to pull the trigger and end it there, suffocation is a terrible thing to go through, I've seen the end results, fingernails missing where people try to scratch for that last breath, I did not want to suffer like that so I thought about ending it there, save myself that indignation. But I could not pull the trigger, maybe I hoped for a miracle."

"I appreciate your honesty Mr Stokes, and that you are still here says a lot. In that box with thousands of ants, had to be tough." The therapist sympathized.

"It was bad."It was a simple phrase but it spoke volumes, an honest reaction that brought tears to his eyes as he thought back to the moment that he realized that he was not alone in that box, that he was getting eaten up alive by ants, their stings like that of a bee or wasp, over and over again, fear of them getting into his ears or nose overcoming any other thought at that moment, able to still keep it together long enough to place the pieces of glove into his ears and strips of his shirt into his nostrils to make sure he could breathe. If they had entered into his nostril then his airway would have been blocked quickly, he would have suffocated. He would have certainly died.

"Are you okay Mr Stokes?" the doctor asked in a gentle voice.

He was quickly shook from his inward thoughts by the doctor's voice, "Yeah, I'm fine."

The doctor nodded, he had seen it before, post traumatic stress disorder, patients reliving the moment especially for the first couple of weeks as if it were still happening. This patient had been through a lot, he would need time to get through it, "Listen,I am going to order you a sedative for night time and I am also going to order you an anti-anxiety med, to help get you through the day, I want you to take one this morning, I am ordering it three times a day. This will help you get some much needed sleep."

The doctor got quiet and smiled at his patient,"Listen, the next couple of weeks is going to be difficult, you will relive this event many times in your mind, probably day and night. It is normal, that is what I am here for,to help get you through it. Let me help you."

The medicine would be fine, he really felt as if he could sleep, he might start feeling less emotional and be able to focus better. If this was going to last for two weeks then he might need all the medicine he could get,if he got through it. "Thank you." was all he could say, anything else would start the tears again, his nerves were on edge, his life had changed in that twenty-four hours enclosed in that box,maybe he should have died, it would have been easier for everybody.

Dr Kasey smiled at his patient, he really did seem amendable to his therapy, that would go a long way in getting better."Listen, I am going to drop in this afternoon to check on how you are doing and remember, I am here to help you get through this,I need you to be honest with me."

The more honest I am the more therapy I get, he thought to himself. He nodded to the doctor but inwardly he knew that he might not make it through therapy, Gordan had taken so much away from him,had that included his will to live too? "Sure." He closed his eyes after the doctor exited the room. It was going to be a long day.

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Short chapter...I need some assist...how far do I go? Talk to me.


	9. Chapter 9

Author: Nicksfriend

Rating:

Spoilers: Grave Danger

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...that is for sure.

Author's note:This is my first CSI fic. Please be gentle.

Okay. To those who responded ...this very long chapter is dedicated to you!

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Catherine walked up the hallway, hoping to have an alone moment with Nick. She had not had time to visit since he arrived on the step down unit. She just wanted to spend some time with him, let him know that she was there if he needed her for anything.

She had tremendous guilt for an assignment gone bad, a moment to relive if she could only do that, but in this life there were no second chances.

Flashing her badge she moved by the security guards in the hallway and towards Nick's door, she stopped when she noticed a man with a camera crew lurking around at the nurse's desk.

"Can I help you?" she asked as she flipped her badge in his face, no way he could miss the fact that she was officially in charge of kicking his ass out the door if he was a reporter.

"My name is Richard Carroll, I am with CNN news. I was told that I could interview Mr Stokes this morning." A fake smile plastered on his face.

"Is that so Mr Carroll? Who gave you this information?"  
She asked sarcastically, knowing full well that nobody would arrange such a meeting, at least no one with any common sense.

"Judge Stokes, he called me late last evening. He felt that his son would be up to an interview this morning." The reporter feeling confident since he had received permission from the father.

"Listen, no one talks to Mr Stokes unless he gives permission himself, which I think may be a cold day in Hell. So take that camera and your crew and stick it where the sun does not shine because it is not going to happen, not today, not tomorrow and probably not ever. He is a private man and he is his own man." Her face red and her temper beyond controlling.

She then turned to the officer standing at the entrance to the floor and with a strong voice shouted,"Get him and his thugs the hell off this floor and do not let them come back!"

The officer complied with some back up officers coming to assist. All were escorted off the floor.

She composed herself before she knocked on Nick's door, but no answer. When she entered she noticed a red headed lady sitting beside of Nick with her head lying on his bed, their hands intertwined. They were both sleeping. Must be his sister she thought to herself.

She decided it was not a good time to talk when she saw the young woman's head raise and blue eyes met blue eyes.

"Hi, I'm sorry, my name is Nicole, I was Nick's nurse in ICU. I just dropped by to say hey to Nick but he has been sleeping, I didn't want to disturb him, I must have fallen asleep." she quickly sat up, rubbing at her eyes.

"I'm Catherine, Nick's supervisor. I just stopped by to see how he was doing."She smiled at the beautiful lady before her, a slight hint of jealousy creeped up for a moment. She shook it off and shut the door, pulling up a chair near Nick but not as close as the nurse who sat starring at her friend.

"They gave him something to rest, I guess his body was ready to get some good sleep because he has been out like a light since." She reached over and pushed his sweaty hair from his face, her other hand still holding on to Nick's.

"Have you seen his family this morning?" Catherine asked wanting to give Nick's father a piece of her mind.

"Nick's father dropped by earlier but Nick was sleeping so he left but didn't say where he was going." Nicole looked up at the clock and yawned. "I have to be back to work tonight, tell Nick I came by to see him. Tell him I will see him tonight." She smiled and gently removed her hand from Nick's and stood, gathering her things she smiled and then turned to leave.

"I will tell him." Catherine smiled back and watched as Nick's eyes fluttered but did not open.

Nicole left,closing the door behind her, Catherine sat quietly in amazement of her friend who could not seem to help that women just fell for his southern charm, even in the hospital. She shook her head then moved to Nicole's vacated chair and sat down.

She would wait for Judge Stokes, he needed to know that Nick was going to have his privacy even if she had to ask Ecklie to get involved.

Ecklie might be a political suck up and a real asshole but he was an asshole who respected Nick Stokes and he was just as protective of this man as she was, that she knew for a fact. He had proven that at the crime scene, he had been the last to leave, wanting to make things right for Nick.

Maybe he had felt guilt for breaking up the team, for putting Nick there in that grave himself,whatever he was thinking, he showed great emotion for his officer at the scene, wiping away tears, thinking nobody had seen his kinder side.

She would wait for Nick's dad, they needed to talk. She pulled out her cellphone and dialed Grissom's number, she might need some back up.

"Grissom." he was walking out to his car, wanting to stop by the hospital before going home.

"Hey, it's Catherine. Can you stop by the hospital?" She asked as she watched Nick toss and turn in the bed.

"I'll be there in about ten minutes, is anything wrong?" he asked concerned for Nick.

"You might say that, I'll see you in ten." she hung up the phone not wanting to discuss things over the phone, she would wait till Gil arrived then slam him with the news of what Judge Stokes was up to with the reporter.

She stood and walked over to the sink to grab a wash cloth and wet it with cool water, Nick was sweating profusely as he tossed and turned, concern for him tangling his intravenous line concerned her and she was about to call for the nurse when she turned around, the site made her turn white as a ghost.

Nick was lying still, eyes open, his hands in the air touching some nonexistent barrier, he was crying silently mumbling incoherent words. The terror on his face resembling the look on the video screen, the look he had in the box, he was there, in the box again.

_Hi CSI guy, you should have died in that box. Now you will have to suffer being alive. You will wish that you had taken that gun to your head and used it. You weren't man enough, you couldn't even pull the trigger. Did you think your friends would always be there to stop you from pulling the trigger, I don't think so, you will pull the trigger, eventually. I will be there when you do."_

_The ants were suddenly everywhere and he had to get them off, they were biting him and he could not get out of the box. His hands started flailing about and he was feeling as if somebody was trying to stop him from knocking off the ants, it had to be Gordan. Gordan wanted him dead, he wanted the ants to eat him. Eat him alive._

"_Nooooooo. Help me, please somebody help me." He screamed but he knew that nobody could hear him in the box. The box was buried underneath several feet of dirt, nobody could find him. Nobody could hear him, Gordan wanted him to die. Why weren't they finding him, didn't they want to find him, what had he did wrong, Had they followed the rules,hadn't they followed the evidence?_

"_Where is your mom and dad now Nick, mommy and daddy not there again to take care of their little boy. Maybe you need a babysitter, yes, that is what you need Nicky, a babysitter." Gordan's voice laughed at him as he threw more dirt on his Plexiglas hell._

Nick's eyes flew open, Catherine stood just inches away with the cloth to place on his face and all he could see was Gordan, "No, please stop. I promise I won't tell Dad, just please no." As he pushed her away, trying to escape the person in front of him.

Catherine recognized the nightmare and thought for a second, how could she get Nick to see her and not Gordan.

"Nicky, listen to me, it's Catherine. Can you understand me?"

Nick's actions stopped, Catherine had come to rescue him, she was there. Finally they had arrived to save him,they would get the ants off. "Help me Catherine." The only words he could allow to escape, the ants would get into his mouth.

"Listen, Nick you are having a bad dream. I need you to wake up, can you wake for me?"

That would be okay, she wanted him to wake up, but wasn't he already awake, in the box? He looked around the room, that did not seem to be there just minutes ago and there was Catherine, her tear filled blue eyes starring down at him,begging him to calm down, to be quiet.

"I'm sorry Catherine." he calmed himself and pushed back the heavy blanket, the room seeming too much like the box anymore,shaking his head and moving slowly up in the bed , the pain in his side still prominent. Someone else now knowing about his newly acquired nightmares, who would it be next?

Catherine placed the wash cloth gently on his face, stroking the sweat and tears away, making his burning face feel cooler.

"You have nothing to be sorry about Nicky, but I do." her voice sad and full of emotion.

This was a part of his supervisor that he rarely ever saw."It was a toss of a coin." he let out a laugh, "My coin. I should never bet against Warrick, he has the best of luck, mine just stinks."

She shook her head and sat down on the edge of the bed, still stroking his face,"That is where you are wrong Nick. Warrick even admitted it to me, he would have never made it past the ants. He would have never made it out of the box."

She paused and looked down at Nick who was giving her full attention, "See, I believe that it was more than a toss of a coin. Somehow fate knew that Warrick would never make it out of the box but it knew that you would."

"You mean God knew?" Nick asked, his childhood was filled with church every Sunday and Bible school as a child and though he had drifted away from church and God he knew that there was a greater power and that him getting out of the box could be only accredited to Him.

She smiled, "If that is what you believe Nicky, then all I can say is that you were in God's hands, not Gordan's or the teams."

He nodded, he really did not want to talk about this right now, he just wanted to go home."Can I have a drink?" he asked wanting to get past the nightmare that was still fresh in his mind, the sweat and tears stinging his bites causing them to itch.

He moved up in the bed and looked at the clock, it would soon be visiting hours and he would have to endure another day of family and friends,

As Catherine picked up the Styrofoam cup SHE could not help but to get a chill, why didn't they use plastic cups anymore? She poured the now warm water in the cup and handed it to Nick who took it with shaky hands.

"Thank you," he then took several sips, making a face at the warmth of the water, "No ice?" he asked as he really wanted something cool for his throat.

"I'll go and get some ice, I'll be right back." She poured out the warm water into the sink and opened the door to find Judge Stokes, talking to the reporter whom she had ran off earlier.

"Didn't I run you off earlier?" she asked with venom in her voice.

"Judge Stokes and I ran into each other in the cafeteria, we agree that it is time for his son to talk to the world. They want to see this man up close and personal and it would be great press for the Las Vegas crime lab." The reporter responded, feeling more confident now that he had the judge beside him backing him up.

"Officer, take this man and get him off this floor immediately." Her tone was a do not mess with Catherine Willows orders again or get your ass fired.

"Wait, wait. Judge Stokes you said that I could have this interview!" The reporter cried out as the officer grabbed his arm.The officer again escorted the reporter and the film crew towards the exit.

"You have no rights here Ms Willows,my son needs to get past this and this is a great way of doing it. He has been through Hell, no thanks to the LVPD, who seem to have forgotten how to take care of their own." Judge stokes towered over the CSI, his voice full of anger.

"Judge Stokes, you have no right to bring in a reporter while Nick is still attempting to heal, no right whatsoever. I will not allow his hospitalization to be a political move for anybody, not even his family. So either obey the no reporter rules or you will be removed and not allowed back." The empty pitcher gripped tightly in her hand, her face red, her voice dripping with anger she had never felt even for the worse of criminals.

"This is what Nick would want, to be able to move past this event."Judge stokes voice seemed louder and still angry.

"If you really knew your son, then you would know that he is a private man, always has been. He has never used the Stokes name to get any privileges or favors. He has earned everything he has accomplished and he is a great CSI. Judge Stokes, I think it prudent that you leave if you do not want to honor your son's wishes." Suddenly noticing that someone had joined the conversation she turned and saw Nick's pale form.

"Dad, can I talk with you in private." Nick stood at the door. IV pole in tow, bent to the side,obviously in pain, both mental and physical."Please."

Judge Stokes looked at Catherine, "This conversation is not over." He walked into the room with Nick, closing the door behind him.

Catherine bowed her head in frustration, angry at the man for disrespecting his son.

"I thought you won." Grissom's voice arousing her from her revelry.

"I would have slammed him with this,"holding up the water pitcher. "If I knew that I wouldn't get arrested for assaulting a federal official."

"That has never stopped you in the past." He smiled then leaned against the wall.

"I need to get Nicky some ice." she started walking towards the nurse's station, the hallway crowded with staff and patients who had taken in the verbal sparring.

"Yeah, you might want to cool off while you are there." He teased, knowing she was just being protective of Nick.

He could hear raised voices in the room, but he knew that Nick needed this, he needed to feel that he was in control,so he just waited. He would be there for the aftermath. They would be there for Nick.

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Okay...had to give Catherine her moment...I wanted to show her as a protective mother bear...someone who really cares for Nick and his wellbeing, I have always believed that Nick left the Dallas crime lab because of the political posturing of his family, something Nick is not about, he is too honest and caring. I wanted to show the true colors of Nick's father. It made me mad when he stated "Pancho, what the hell you got yourself into now." I know he cares but could it be possible that he cars more about his career and his name? Tell me what you think?


	10. Chapter 10

Author: Nicksfriend

Rating:

Spoilers: Grave Danger

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...that is for sure.

Author's note:This is my first CSI fic. Please be gentle.

Okay. To those who responded ...this very long chapter is dedicated to you!

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"Cisco, what were you thinking?" Nick asked as he was trying to get to the chair to sit down, going back to bed was not an option.

"I was thinking my youngest son had screwed up again and somehow we needed to right this mess." Judge Stokes gave his son a look of disappointment.

"Sorry that you feel that way, sorry that I am not your perfect son, John." He seemed to have gotten a little energy from his short nap and he was not going to allow his father to direct his life, that is why he moved away from Texas.

"Listen Nicholas, no longer calling him his childhood name of Pancho, our name is all we have, and I will not allow you to hide behind these walls and not allow the world to see that you are fine,that you are a man who can overcome what this jerk tried to do to you." He walked away from Nick then suddenly stopped, slamming his fist into the bedside table."If you don't want to do it for me then do it for your mother, you have put her through hell."

"I don't have to prove nothing to anybody, especially not you or any of the rest of my family. I came here to be my own man. Why can't you respect what I have accomplished?" Nick finally reached the chair but did not sit, too angry at the man standing across the room. Overwhelming guilt hitting him as he thought about what his mother must of went through.

"Nicholas, You will do as I say or I will do it for you. You are not well enough to make decisions and I am sure I could pull some strings to be your legal guardian until you are discharged from your psychiatrist's care." Judge Stokes was taking this to a whole different level.

"What and declare me incompetent so that you can take me back to Texas to the farm? What the Hell are you trying to do to me?" Shocked that his father could even think of doing something so evil and vile to his own son.

"I think your past speaks for itself Nicholas, almost losing your job after sleeping with a whore, letting a stalker take your gun and almost killing you by throwing you out a two story window. I think that just those actions alone shows poor judgment in your past. Son, what I want to do for you is actually in your best interest." Judge Stokes opened the door and turned one last time to face his son,"Either do it my way, or you will be going home to Texas permanently. Locked up and drugged until you come to your senses."

Nick's face fell, the thought of having his father in charge of his life was terrifying and his threats made him angry. He would be damned to allow this man to control his life one more day on this earth,he would have to take drastic measures.

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"That sounded like a threat,you want me to throttle him?" Catherine asked as she entered the room with Grissom following.

"He wants to have me declared incompetent so that he can take me back home, so that he can keep a closer eye on me. Keep the family name from getting damaged any further." Nick sat down in the chair looking as if he was just been beaten.

"Your family would not allow that, would they Nick?" Catherine asked concerned that it was a family threat as much as it was the father's.

"Whatever my dad says goes in the Stokes family, not even Elizabeth or John will stand up to him,whatever he says goes, it is the law of the family."

"He can't do that, can he Gil?" Catherine was fired up, this man had nerve to threaten his son in this manner, all for the Stokes name. What about Nick and all that he had suffered?

Grissom pulled out his cell and hit a number,"Ecklie, I need to talk to you about Nick. I'll be there shortly, wait for me there." He quickly hung up the phone, knowing that a supreme court judge could do almost anything he wanted to do and get by with it, he just hoped that he could block it.

"Listen to me Nick,I don't think your father can do this but he does have some major clout being a supreme court judge but I don't know how far that goes here in Las Vegas. I need to get Ecklie involved." Grissom gave him a sympathetic smile.

He then gave Catherine a direct stare." In the mean time Catherine, find a way to keep Nick away from his family, at least until I get back. Just don't hurt anybody." he shrugged his shoulders and started out the door.

"I'll try and restrain myself Gil." She placed the ice pitcher back on the bedside table, feeling the urge to toss it at the next Stokes that walked through the door.

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Catherine had to think fast, Nick's family would be arriving soon,maybe talking to the mother would do some good, she was a lawyer, surely she had stood up to her husband on a few occasions. Would she not place Nick's welfare above the Stokes family name? She had to take a chance at attempting to get to Nick's mother.

Nick sat in his chair starring out the window, hoping that his father could not make him go back to Texas, his family and friends were here, in Las Vegas. He would have to be taken back drugged or in restraints, he would not go willingly.

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"Gil, there is nothing we can do, this is a powerful man we are dealing with and he has a lot of political pull." Ecklie rubbed at his face wanting to help out Nick but knew it would kill his career.

"I thought you cared about Nick, guess I was wrong." Grissom verbally stabbed back, wanting the man to feel some sort of guilt for being unwilling to help his CSI.

"That's not fair Gil. I would do anything for Nick, I think I have proven that but I can not cross a federal judge." Placing his director face back on trying to protect his position as director.

"Guess I will have to find a way to protect Nick myself. I really don't have a career to kill, do I Ecklie?" His face etched in pain at the thought of losing one of his best CSI's.

"Be careful Gil,from what I hear, this man is no one to mess with, he has a reputation of making things happen. He is a powerful man." Standing , then slowly walking towards the door, opening it for Grissom to exit. He did not want to be included in whatever the plan might be, he had to protect his job, his title,maybe he was no different than Judge Stokes, he thought to himself."Just do it and do not tell me about it Gil."

Grissom nodded, an unspoken understanding that he would protect Nick to a certain extent but would not jeopardize the lab or his directorship, he could respect that but he was still disappointed in his supervisor.

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"You've got to get me out of here Catherine." His soft spoken words the first since Grissom left.

"How Nicky, there are reporters everywhere, not to mention your family. They would explode." Catherine wanted to assist Nick, but he was still too sick to leave the hospital, the bites on his arms and face still evident of the pain that he had suffered.

"It was a thought. I just do not want to have my dad in control of my decisions, and I know that he can make that happen. You just don't understand Catherine." he got very quiet, in deep thought then spoke again."He never wanted me to move here, we hadn't spoken in a long time. Now he wants his prodigal son to come home."

I can understand why you wouldn't want to go home after meeting him, she thought to herself but she also thought it best to keep her opinions to herself right now, but that could change at any moment if another family member got in Nick's face.

"Listen, you are welcome to come to our house to stay for a while, Lindsey and mom would love to have you there, especially Lindsey. I think she is in love with both you and Warrick." She smiled at Nick, letting him know that she was serious.

"One of the first places they would look, I need a better place to hide." Nick's tone of voice sounded serious as if he was really contemplating this action.

"Are you serious?" she asked as she walked over and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I know my dad, he will probably have me institutionalized if I try to fight him. My nightmares alone would buy me a seventy-two hour lock up in the mental ward." He bent his head low, his voice showing how much this moment was causing a toll on his mental and physical well being.

Catherine had a thought, "Listen, a nurse stopped by this morning, her name was Nicole."

"Nikki, she is a nurse in the emergency room. She took care of me when I came in the other night and again in the ICU. She is really nice."

Catherine had an idea but she would have to check it out with the red head first but if she was right then this woman may be their way out for Nick."Hey, I need to call Brass. Business. I will back in a minute."

"Catherine, don't try to fight my dad, you will lose." A very sad Nick warned as he watched his boss start to leave.

"Nicky, I'm a single mom, trust me, I am a lot tougher than your dad, just watch and learn." Smiling at Nick as she exited the room.

Nick just nodded his head, she is one wiry woman, I would hate to be on her bad side, he thought to himself as he looked up at the clock, it was almost noon, time for visitors.

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Well, this is how I see judge Stokes,controlling and difficult to love. I think that is why Nick sees Grissom as more of a father figure and Brass too. He never had a very good one at home, name first, family in a distant last.

Let me know what you think.


	11. Chapter 11

Author: Nicksfriend

Rating:

Spoilers: Grave Danger

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...that is for sure.

Author's note:This is my first CSI fic. Please be gentle.

_Okay...I want the team involved in Nick getting better. I really don't see Nick's family as major players in his recovery, though I do respect writers who have sent him home to Texas, I want to go a different direction. I have always considered his CSI team more of a family and I see them actually knowing Nick better than his real family. I promise no explosions or babysitters popping up anywhere._

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"John I will not be going back to Texas, Dad can threaten me all he wants but I am staying here, this is my home." Nick argued as his brother and mother gave him angry stares.

"You've just been through hell Nick, you don't know what you want, You just got out of ICU yesterday and those ant bites still are a big reminder that you have a lot of healing left to accomplish." John argued back, working in the DA's office was a plus when it came to him having convincing arguments.

"He will have to drug me and restrain my ass, because I am not going back to Texas, not on his terms." Nick seemed tired, the arguments had lasted most of the afternoon and his nurse had come in several times to see if he was okay.

"Nicky, You know that we love you, that Dad loves you. Just come home for a couple of weeks, time enough for you to heal, then if you want to come back then you can." His mother pleaded, her tired appearance giving Nick proof that she was worried about his health.

"He will not allow me to return, he wants me home so he can reign me in when I slip up. He wants to control me like he controls all of you, that is why I left, that is why it took me so long to be able to be solo on a case. I had no confidence in myself, I've grown here, matured into the man I want to be,and I have compromised nothing to be the man I want to be in life and on the job." His mind was set, he would not allow his father to rule him again.

"Nick, you leave us no choice. I have been instructed by Dad to ask for a competency hearing, it is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Any judge will side that you are in no shape to make decisions on your own. Dad will get power of attorney and upon discharge you will be coming home with us. Sorry Nick, but you are giving us no choice." John sounding more like a lawyer than a brother shook his head then stood to leave.

"You can't do that John. You can't do that!" He yelled at the man standing before him.

"It is already done Nick, sorry." John's face saddened that he had to do this to his brother but his father ruled and that was the decision, he had no choice."Tomorrow Dad will become your power of attorney. He will make your decisions until a psychiatrist says that you are able to make them on your own."

Catherine entered from the hallway and held up a piece of paper, "He already has a Power of Attorney, Gilbert Grissom."

"What the hell are you talking about and who are you?" John asked angry at the intrusion into his family's personal business.

"I am Nick's boss and I had Nick's personnel file pulled. It is standard procedure for all officers to have a living will, it places Mr Gilbert Grissom in charge of all decisions for a Nicholas Parker Stokes if he is unable to make said decisions on his own. This document gives Mr Grissom full authority. So if you have him declared incompetent then this notarized sheet of paper will come into play." She smiled and handed a copy of the document to Nick's brother.

"You know that I will contest this document in court." Lines of frustration crossing his face.

"In Nevada, it would do no good for you to contest it, it was determined before the incident of his trauma and therefore will stand up in court." She looked over to a smiling Nick and gave him a wink.

John and Nick's mother stood to leave,"Nick, this is not over, you might as well make plans to come home. I know Dad, this document will not stick." John was frustrated at the turn of events. Both John and his mother walked out of the door,the relief of their departure evident on Nick's face.

"Well Nicky, don't underestimate my talents yet. I have a little bit more up my sleeve." Placing his folder on the bed and leaning over to give him a gentle kiss on his head. "Time for part two." She whispered in his ear.

Nikki walked in with a smile, "Hey cowboy."

"Hey, you're here early, they call you in for another double?" he asked confused that his favorite nurse had shown up at three o'clock in the afternoon.

"Well, I actually got the night off to help a friend." She smiled and looked over to Catherine.

"Okay, I'm lost." His southern accent seemed to be returning since his intubation.

"I got Nicole's number from Cathy, they are going to give us some much needed help." Catherine's forced smile concerned Nick.

"Listen, I am not going to get anybody in trouble for helping me, I respect and appreciate what you guys might be trying to do for me but listen, their my family and I should deal with them myself." The stress of the day had worn him out, and Cathy had just delivered another Xanax, which was making him extremely tired and sleepy.

"Our choice Nick. Catherine explained to us what your father is trying to do, so just let us do what has to be done." Nicole would have none of the self sacrifice from this man, he had been through enough.

"Where are they by the way? Out trying to find me a straight jacket that fits properly?"His voice slurry from the medication.

Hey, that is probably a good question, Catherine thought to herself, none of the Stokes family were around and that made her nervous.

Nicole picked up her cell and made a quick call, things had to go smoothly, Nick needed to get out quick and unrecognized. She had promised Dr Mason,Dr Allen and Dr Kasey that she would make sure that Nick was taken care of with the early discharge that she was able to procure from them, she would take Nick to his daily visits at Dr Kasey's office and have the doctors set up home health under an alias to protect their patient.

She almost found it unbelievable that a guy she had fallen for just a couple of days ago would all of a sudden be such a big part of her life. He really was a nice guy, and he must also be well respected to have so many friends that cared so much about him,it would be a privilege to help this cowboy.

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Warrick walked up the hallway, watching for any of the Stokes family, it was almost ten at night and visiting hours were over. It was time to put the plan into action, time to get Nick out of the hospital and somewhere that he could heal without all of the stress.

Flashing his badge and walking towards Nick's door he heard a commotion and he knew immediately that he was in for a confrontation.

Rebecca Stokes stood outside Nick's door, she was having a verbal debate with Catherine over her brother's care and not being quiet at all about her feelings that he was coming back to Texas to be with her family.

"You or nor any of those people Nick calls friend have any right to tell us how to take care of our brother. He is my brother and I feel we know what is best for him."

"Listen, it is his choice, not yours or your father's. You are lucky to have such a wonderful brother. I just can't understand why you and your family are trying to alienate him from your lives," Catherine shot back at the skinny little woman who was shaking her finger in her face.

"Nick never acted like this at home, he always respected our father and never talked back, he was such a good son." Rebecca responded, her untamed hair flying into her face as she was speaking, she took a hand and swiped it back behind her ear, frustrated that his friends would not leave them in peace.

Warrick felt that he needed to interrupt the fight before it got out of hand, he wanted to hurry and get Nick out of the hospital and out of sight of his father or his family.

"Rebecca, how are you doing?" he asked ,his voice calm and low.

Tears filled her eyes and she fell into his arms, Warrick motioned Catherine into the room. "Hey, listen. Let's go and get a cup of coffee in the cafeteria." he looked down at sad, tear filled eyes, he felt bad but they were too wrapped up in what their father wanted and Nick's needs and wishes were being totally ignored.

She nodded in agreement, she trusted this man, Nick's friend."Sure."

Together they walked off the floor, Catherine had entered the room, it was time for the plan to begin but Warrick had been side tracked. Now she had to make a decision, whether to proceed or to wait.

Catherine pulled out her cellphone and made a call, Grissom would have to take Warrick's place.

"Grissom." He suddenly recognized the caller id was showing Catherine."Something wrong?"

"You need to take Warrick's place, he is trying to get Rebecca out of the way but it won't be for long. Hurry Gil." she closed her phone and started helping Cathy get a very sleepy Nick ready to leave.

Grissom looked at Nicole and shrugged, "Change of plans, wait here."

She nodded and hoped that security had turned off the cameras as directed by Nick's boss, otherwise she might not have a job when she came back.

She watched as the older man disappeared into the hospital, they needed to hurry before they became too conspicuous. The media were still hanging out everywhere just to get that picture of Nick, the man buried alive.

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Grissom started up the elevator, he was by himself. He was lost in thought however when the elevator opened and a tall man entered, it was Nick's brother and he seemed to have an agenda, He pulled out his cell and made a call, unaware of Grissom's presence.

"Dad. I got it, we have temporary custody of Nick until the hearing." He paused as if he were taking more orders from his father. Then he spoke again,"I have a psychiatrist who will do what we ask,paid in full. He will be on a plane home tomorrow, drugged to the gills."

That is all Grissom needed to hear, he needed to alert Catherine before the brother got to the room. He pulled out his cell and did a quick text, hopefully Catherine could get him out without his assistance, he needed to get Brass involved.

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Catherine's phone beeped and she flipped it open to see the text,'John is on his way up, get Nick out now!'

"We got to go now Cathy, it is you and me." Cathy nodded and assisted Nick to the stretcher which she had arranged to be in the room earlier. After he was on the stretcher she opened the door and looked down the hallway, they would have to use the back way out. She would call Nicole as soon as they got to the elevator.

They pushed the stretcher with a now covered from head to toe Nick, to the elevator, waiting nervously until the door finally opened. They quickly entered, She pulled out her cell and called Nicole.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" she asked as she waited outside the emergency room in the awaiting ambulance, the paramedics owed her a big time favor and she had called it in but the plan was not working out, they would have to pick him up at the loading deck. She quickly gave Catherine directions and then hung up the phone. Giving the driver the new plan.

Catherine did a text to Grissom who had stayed on the elevator after John had exited on the step down unit,instructions had already been given to the officer standing outside of Nick's room to stop anybody who tried to enter,even family. He headed out the door to meet them at the loading dock.

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"Jim." He answered his phone, also waiting outside of the hospital in case Grissom needed some back up.

"Listen, Nick's brother has somehow got a judge to assign him as temporary custodian until the hearing, they have plans to drug and ship Nick tomorrow. Catherine is coming out at the loading dock, I need you to run some interference."

"You want me to get the paparazzi's attention?" Brass asked as he rolled his eyes, his job description seemed to change everyday.

"Do something." Grissom's tone was that of a protective father.

"Okay, time to take a streak around the building." He hung up the phone not giving Grissom a chance to respond.

Grissom brought the phone down from his ear and starred at it,"Surely he was kidding." But knowing his friend, he could have been very serious. He continued towards the loading dock, hoping that Jim was definitely kidding.

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_Okay, I going away on business for a couple of days. See you Monday! Feedback does motivate me though, I will take my laptop._


	12. Chapter 12

Author: Nicksfriend

Rating:

Spoilers: Grave Danger

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...that is for sure.

Author's note:This is my first CSI fic. Please be gentle.

_Let me explain something. As a nurse I have seen people get legal custody of a person, if that person is considered incapable of making decisions on their own, power of attorney. Therefore the importance of an a**dvance** **directive** (a document that is notarized or created by a lawyer that tells one's wishes if he/she is unable to make such decisions in their life). Nick has one but the Judge is trying to over ride it based on prior judgments (Nick's past mistakes based more on him trusting people rather than him not being able to have sound judgment.) Now he is having problems with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder)).A LITTLE CREATIVE LICENSE THROWN IN AND WALLA YOU GET MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT. Just wanted you to know that I am not totally out there!_

_Also a Huge thanks to all who have given me feedback, I will sometimes take into consideration what the reader wants along with my ideas, I love it when you respond...it really helps me grow as a writer. And for those that I can't send a private message just read, you might find a little bit of you in this story! Thanks again!_

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"Jim." He answered his phone, also waiting outside of the hospital in case Grissom needed some back up.

"Listen, Nick's brother has somehow got a judge to assign him as temporary custodian until the hearing, they have plans to drug Nick and ship him home to Texas tomorrow. Catherine is coming out at the loading dock, I need you to run some interference."

"You want me to get the paparazzi's attention?" Brass asked as he rolled his eyes, his job description seemed to change everyday.

"Do something." Grissom's tone was that of a protective father.

"Okay, time to take a streak around the building." He hung up the phone not giving Grissom a chance to respond.

Grissom brought the phone down from his ear and starred at it,"Surely he was kidding." But knowing his friend, he could have been very serious. He continued towards the loading dock, hoping that Jim was definitely kidding.

"Time to commit a felony." He spoke to himself as he attempted to come up with an idea to get the paparazzi's attention. "I'm too old for this." He mumbled as he picked up his radio, making sure that it was on a public channel so when he made the call everyone could pick it up, including the paparazzi."I have a four nineteen at the ambulance bay at Desert Palms Hospital. I will respond, the anonymous caller said it was Richard Gere."

An officer replied over the radio, "You sure?"

"Who knows, it could be Daisy Duke for all I know. Just respond." He rolled his eyes again, hopefully he would catch a break and there would be something for the camera's to flash, hopefully it wouldn't be him getting his ass fired. This was going to be a long night, he thought to himself as he got into his car.

The paparazzi responded as expected and suddenly the ambulance bay was gutted with cameras and reporters. Brass pulled up, hoping that Grissom would call and let him know the status of Nicky's departure. Hopefully all was going well. He exited his car and started working the crowd.

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**Nick's Condo**

"Sara, I really don't feel right about this."Greg moaned as he rifled through Nick's underwear drawer.

"Listen, just pack the damn suit case Gregg. We are helping Nick out by doing this for him." Sara pulled out t-shirts, sweat pants, a robe, slippers and shorts from his closet and stuffed them into the suitcase.

"It still feels like an invasion of his privacy." He opened a second drawer and yelled,"Wow, these are so much better than mine," At finding Nick's stash of adult magazines.

"Gregg, try to keep focused. We are here to gather clothes, not to go through Nick's private things." She grinned suddenly seeing that the playboy had toys hidden in his closet."You are so naughty Nick." She whispered to herself and could not help but to grin.

"Did you say something."Gregg turned to ask a very red faced Sara.

"No. I'm fine,everything is fine." She tried to keeping from giggling out loud as she surveyed Nick's collection.

Gregg shook his head and continued to pack things for Nick. Taking one of the magazines and slipping it into Nick's duffel bag. He would sneak it out later,when Sara wasn't looking.

"I'll get his toiletries." Sara walked into the bathroom, which was extraordinarily clean. "You would think Nick was married as clean and organized as everything is Gregg."

"Maybe he is secretly married and he just hasn't gotten around to letting us know about it yet." Gregg peaked his head into the door to see Sara starring at something.

"Right Gregg,I'm sure that is it." Sara mumbled, her focus now on something else peculiar.

"What did you find?" Gregg asked excitedly.

"I didn't know that Nick was on prescription anti-anxiety medication." Picking up the bottle and looking at the date, "This bottle is three years old."

"Isn't that about when Nigel Crane stalked him." Knowing it as a fact since he had read through the file just days ago.

"Yeah, I guess, I just thought he got over it. Nick would never tell us if he was having a problem though, he is rather private about his personal life." Continuing starring at the half empty bottle of medication.

"I guess we all need help sometimes." He shrugged not giving it as much thought as Sara. Even he had taken pills to help him sleep, due to the erratic sleep pattern of a CSI.

She placed the bottle back into the cabinet and continued to pack things that Nick would need, grabbing his electric razor thinking he couldn't use a regular razor for a while with all the bites on his face.

Gregg left Sara in the bathroom, he would grab some games for Nick to play while he recuperated. He walked into the dark living room, his hand quickly found a light switch and he flipped it on,"Now where does Nick keep his xbox 360?' he thought to himself. He walked over to the entry closet and opened it, seeing all of Nick's trophies hidden away , stacked in several boxes. "Man, you are so modest man."He spoke it to himself as he continued to search for the games.

"I think we have everything Gregg." Sara announced as she walked towards the door with two bags.

Gregg was still in the closet, looking for the games ,"I'll be there in a minute, I am still trying to find Nicks xbox."

"Hurry, we need to meet them at midnight, it will take us a while to get to this address." She starred down at the directions that Nicole had given to them. It was a private address, the home had belonged to her parents, who both had died the year before.

Gregg exited the closet with the xbox and games in hand, "Found them." He smiled at Sara who seemed a little perturbed at having to wait for him.

They loaded the items into Gregg's sports car and locked up the condo. They would have to be careful to make sure they were not followed, the reporters were getting desperate in attempting to get a picture of Nick.

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"Hey, you okay Nick?" Catherine was concerned about him since he had not made a noise since before they left the room.

When she got no answer as they rolled down the hallway towards the dock she could not help but to pull back the sheet. He was sleeping,probably a good thing but she hoped inwardly that he would not have a nightmare.

Grissom was standing at the door when they arrived, the ambulance sat in the darkened lot, out of sight of direct traffic.

"Nick, we need to get you out of here, wake up." Grissom announced as they arrived to the back door entrance

Sleepy eyes opened, it took him a few seconds to realize where he was and he weakly assisted them in getting up and off the gurney.

Cathy moved quickly at getting the needed supplies into the ambulance, Nicole assisting Nick into the back of the cab, the paramedics getting him strapped into place.

"Where are you guys taking me?" His first question asked about the plan since they had told him they were taking him from the hospital.

"My parents home, they died a year ago, it hasn't been in use since. I think it will be perfect place for you to get better." Nicole explained as they readied for the move.

"I'm sorry."Sad eyes looked up at her and a tear fell down his cheek.

"Hey cowboy, I want to do this, I wish we could have found another way but you have a very strong willed father." Trying to keep things positive for Nick, but in her heart she could not fathom why anybody would want to control their children. She smiled and patted his chest,avoiding his arms due to the bites.

Nick smiled back and looked around to find Cathy standing at the door of the ambulance."Nikki, I will bring your car up as soon as I know that nobody is following, You guys need to get going." She smiled at her patient and waved,"See you in a bit." She then left.

Catherine and Grissom jumped into the back with Nicole and Nick, they would be going with them. Grissom had taken time off to deal with legal matters pertaining to Nick and the court hearing the next day, being his power of attorney he would help fight the petition for Nick's rights. His agent was sick but very capable to make his own decisions, and he was going to protect that for him.

"Nicky, everything will be fine." Catherine smiled at her friend, knowing inside that it could be a difficult battle with his family but they would do everything to give Nick what he wanted, not what his family forced upon him.

As they started to pull away from the hospital the paramedic turned towards Grissom and excitedly remarked, "Hey, I just heard it over the radio. They just brought in Richard Gere, he was a four nineteen, whatever that means."

Grissom smiled, his friend did not disappoint.

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John stood at Nick's hospital door, agitated that he was not being allowed into the room. "Listen, I am Mr Stokes brother and I have legal custody of him until his competency hearing tomorrow. I really need to talk to him."

The officer stood firm, knowing that Nick was no longer in the room, "Sir, I work for the hospital and my orders are no visitors after ten o'clock. If you have a problem with that I suggest that you talk to the administrator."

John knew that his psychiatrist would be there soon to give him what he would need in court and to administrator the needed drugs to get him home. He really hated doing this but he knew that Nick was not amendable to his father's plan to go back willingly.

This was the most difficult thing he had ever been asked to do by his father and he resented having to treat his brother in this manner. But he refused to question his father's authority, it could mean his career.

He was about to go and find the charge nurse when he saw Rebecca coming down the hallway. He went to meet her halfway,"They won't let me in to see Nick. They said visitor hours are over and that we can't come in, I'm going to find the charge nurse."

Rebecca looked at her brother, the anger that she had felt earlier had left but she felt it creeping back up. "I just talked to Nick's friend Warrick, he said that he would be up in a few minutes, maybe they have some pull and can get us in to see Nick."

"Why was he here?" John asked suspiciously.

"He's Nick's best friend and co-worker, I'm sure he was just checking up on his friend. Why?" Feeling that her dad and John might be up to something.

"I got custody of Nick until the competency hearing in the morning, a friend of Dad's,who is a psychiatrist was going to come by tonight and see Nick,he is going to help our brother and assist us in getting him back to Texas."

"John, are you and dad up to something, if so I want to know about it, he is my brother too." Her voice slightly raised, feeling that her brother had not been totally honest with her.

"Rebecca, you need to leave and let me do what needs to be done." John's voice had changed to a more authoritative tone. "This is for Nick's own good."

"John, I agree with Dad that Nick needs to come home but I would never force it on him, I'm sure if we talk to him that he would see things our way." Unaware that her father and John were planning to ambush Nick.

"Let me handle things sis, I will take care of Nick, haven't I always done what Dad wanted? I love Nick too." John appealing to his sister's kinder side.

"Okay John, I will go back to our room but if you need me to help talk to Nick I will." Calming down and trying to see things from John's perspective. "But don't push him, he'll agree in time,you'll see."

John kissed his little sister on her forehead and gave her a small wave bye. He knew what had to be done and he would find the charge nurse to get it accomplished. He watched his sister go back towards the elevator as he walked towards the nurse's desk.

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Warrick had made it out to his car in the garage, he need to head for the house. Pulling out the directions he shook his head. After talking to Rebecca he knew what they were doing was right, he just hoped that none of the family could find Nick.

As he pulled out of the garage he noticed a huge commotion at the emergency entrance, he pulled out his cell phone and hit Catherine's number.

"Everything is fine Rick, we had to have a change of plans, are you on your way?" Catherine did not give him the chance to ask the question.

"Scared me. Yeah, I'm on my way. How's Nick?" Concerned for his friend.

"Looking down at wide open eyes she smiled,"Good, he is good. We'll see you in an hour." She flipped off the phone and looked out the back window, hoping that the plan had gone smoothly.

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Cathy had to run back to the floor for her purse, hoping that the family had gone to their rooms for the night. When the elevator door opened she was face to face with a very angry John Stokes.


	13. Chapter 13

Author: Nicksfriend

Rating:

Spoilers: Grave Danger

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...that is for sure.

Author's note:This is my first CSI fic. Please be gentle.

_Thank you so much for the feedback! I love this place, hopefully I am improving as a writer, as a storyteller._

_I love the concept of Nicky and Nikki, BUT I know there are those of you who would love Nick and Sara, but remember I have been honest from the beginning,I wanted to give Nick a relationship, but if you have read my other work, I am full of surprises._

**Desert Palms hospital**

_Cathy had to run back to the floor for her purse, hoping that the family had gone to their rooms for the night. When the elevator door opened she was face to face with a very angry John Stokes._

"Where is my brother?" His voice loud and angry.

At first the anger scared her but she also knew that this man's anger was going to be nothing compared to the father's. She had to protect her patient's privacy. "He was discharged earlier tonight,I am sorry but that is all I know." She lied but it was a necessary lie to keep Nick away from his controlling father.

"I don't believe you. Why are you here so late." He continued to vent his anger towards Nick's day nurse.

"I forgot my purse and I came back to get it, if that is any of your business. Look, if you have questions then ask the doctors who discharged your brother,we just carry out the orders, the doctors write them." Attempting to keep her cool she walked over to the desk and retrieved her purse.

"If you don't tell me where Nick Stokes went I will personally get you fired." He threatened, his face red with frustration.

"If you threaten me one more time I will have security personally escort you from the building. I will not tolerate being bullied by any family member. That includes you Mr Stokes." She turned and headed for the elevator, knowing that she would be possibly followed, she would not be able to join Nicole to assist with Nick. She had to protect his location.

John pulled out his cell phone and dialed his father's number,Hell was about to break loose.

"Dad, Nick is missing."

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**Fifteen minutes outside of MESQUITE**

Upon arrival at Nicole's parents house, the first thing that Catherine thought was,unbelievable. The house was a huge two story, three car garage,stone brick house which overlooked a golf course and and backed up to the eighteenth hole. It sat inside a gated community and had a security guard on duty at all times.

"Hey Jack." Nikki greeted the security guard, who seemed very happy to see her.

"Miss Nikki, I've been expecting you and your friends. The house is ready for your guests." His pleasant manner was refreshing after such a stressful night.

"Thank you Jack,this is the list of people that can come to see my guest. If they are not on the list and insist on coming to my home then call for help."Handing him a list that Catherine had worked up for Nick.

"Yes ma'am. Should I expect anymore guests tonight?" He asked with pencil and paper ready to write down the names.

Catherine took over, "A Sara Sidle and a Gregg Sanders will be joining us tonight, also Warrick Brown and a nurse, Cathy Gaddis. They should be arriving soon."

"I will be expecting them and will direct them to your home Miss Nikki." Jack waved at them and opened the gate, "Have a good night."

Grissom was sitting in the back of the ambulance reviewing Nick's folder with his personal documents, since overhearing the conversation in the elevator, he knew that the father's plan included drugging Nick and getting him back to Texas permanently. He would be a witness to that conversation, they had even paid off a doctor to commit Nick. This family was not what they appeared or at least the father wasn't the man or judge that he would have pictured as Nick's father.

His mind could not help but to wonder back to the conversation in Jim's office, when Catherine had told him that something had happened to Nick when he was only nine years old, something significant. Now he wondered if had something to do with Nick's father.

Grissom's thoughts were interrupted when the doors to the back were opened and once again a sleeping Nick was awakened."Nick we're at Nicole's parent's house." Grissom's voice low and gentle. "I need you to wake up."

Opening his now matted eyes was a little bit more difficult and it took a few more minutes to get awake enough to get out of the ambulance to walk into the house, "Where are we, the playboy mansion?" His eyes trying to focus on the beautiful home with the guard gate and manicured lawn.

They all let out a laugh, seeing the old Nick was back. It was a short lived moment, they all froze as they approached the door, a figure crossed in front of the window.

"I thought you said that the house was empty." Grissom's voice full of concern for Nick as he spoke to Nikki.

"It should be, I mean there should be nobody here." Her voice cracked with nervousness.

Grissom and Catherine pulled their weapons and edged towards the door motioning for Nikki and the ambulance crew to get Nick to a safer area.

As they got to the door if flew open, a man in his seventies stood in the doorway,"Nikki, is that you?"

Grissom and Catherine quickly lowered their weapons as a very shocked Nikki approached from behind them.

"Grandpa?" Her voice low and frightened, "I thought you were dead."

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"Sara,what did you put into the CD player, funeral music?" Gregg was getting a little antsy listening to the drudging sound of Bach.

"Shut up Gregg. Appreciate the music." Sara quipped back, trying to concentrate on the directions.

"I'm just saying, we could take turns. This music is starting to make me drool." He picked up his favorite Zeppelin CD and fanned it in the air.

"Why, so I can have a headache for the rest of the night?" She mumbled back, hoping that Gregg would just be quiet and drive.

Gregg tossed his Zeppelin CD in the console area, hoping that she would change her mind before he went numb all over, or fell to sleep at the wheel."Hey I think we're here, he pointed towards the huge house with the security gate.

"I think you're right Gregg" ,hoping that someone had told the security man that they were coming.

The security waved them down and smiled,"Hi, may I help you?"

"I'm Sara Sidle and this is Gregg Sanders,I believe Nicole is expecting us."Sara took charge before Gregg could respond.

Jack looked down at the list and checked it off,"They are waiting at the house for the both of you. Have a good night." Jack hit the button to allow them to enter.

"Thank You." Gregg answered, looking over to the Sara, "I hope they have cable."

Sara gave him the look and then a small grin. She did appreciate his sense of humor during difficult moments.

As they drove up into the semi circle driveway, they noticed a pale Nick still standing outside with the paramedics. Both of them jumped from the car, wondering what was happening.

"Gregg, I think I know that man." Sara was starring at the gray headed man in the doorway as if he were a ghost.

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Brass rubbed at his face hoping that the media would just go away but the Gere story had created total havoc with his security team.

"Listen, it was a false alarm, please go home." He mumbled into a microphone that had been set up at the front of the building. Hoping that he was not going to go to jail himself for making up the story.

"You wouldn't tell us if it was him because of HIPPA laws. We aren't going anywhere." A voice shouted from the crowd.

Brass shook his head and instructed his men to leave, maybe the reporters would think no security, no Richard Gere. Within an hour the reporter still stood outside the doors of the Emergency Room,blocking the ambulances from getting to the door.

That was it, now Brass was getting mad."Listen, anybody caught blocking this area will be arrested. I will personally take you down town, book you and I can not guarantee what cell mate you might end up with so I suggest that you move it!"

The crowd dispersed, leaving the emergency room at peace. Brass got into his car and laid his head on the steering wheel wishing it would all just quietn down.

Suddenly his cell phone rang and his head sprung up. He did not recognize the number, he picked it up, "Captain Brass."

"This is John Stokes, my brother was a patient at Desert Palms Hospital, I would like to file a missing person's report. I am his brother and also his legal guardian."

"Are you sure he wasn't discharged?" Brass knew the answer to this one but wanted to hear what the brother would say.

"Listen, I am his guardian, I have documentation to prove it, I want my brother found." John answered angrily.

"We usually don't file a missing person report until a person has been missing for forty-eight hours. And by the way, have you checked his home? He could be home." Brass was feeling a major headache brewing behind his eyes.

"Evidently you are not going to help me, I will go to your director instead." John's voice was filled with venom and disgust at not being able to find his brother.

Brass let out a small laugh, "Good luck, he is in Fiji, skinny dipping." He hung up his phone and headed back to the station. He hit the speed dial to Grissom but no answer, he would tray again later.

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Warrick must of misplaced the directions, he looked everywhere but could not find them and he could not risk going back to the hospital to look for them. He prayed inwardly that he had not dropped them in the cafeteria and if he had then he hoped that the Stokes family did not find them.

He reached into his pocket one more time, trying to keep the steering wheel steady and there they were, he pulled them out and let out a deep breath, that would have been a major screw up he thought to himself.

He read the directions as he kept an eye on the road, he suddenly recognized the address from an investigation he had done over a year ago, a double homicide but it was eventually closed as a double suicide. Was that Nicole's parents?

Sara had done the interviews but the daughter and her grandfather were out of the country and had not returned prior to the case being closed. The grandfather later was reportedly thought dead after several weeks,a boating accident.

Warrick shook his head and continued to drive towards Nicole's house,what a coincidence he thought as he closed the directions and placed them back into his pocket again. Continuing to drive as he replayed the facts of the case in his head.

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Nick was trying to keep his focus on the conversations taking place but his legs gave out and he fell to the ground, the paramedics helping to break his fall." We need help over here." One of the paramedics yelled, breaking the tension that was being presented at the door.

Grissom and Catherine responded immediately, Nick was out. Nicole was behind them checking his pupils and heartrate.

"I think that the medication Cathy gave him is really having an effect on him, coupled with the stress of the evening. Let's get him in the house so I can take a better look at him." She turned and looked at her grandfather, "If that is okay with you."

He opened the door and nodded, wanting them to hurry and get the sick man inside. "Take him to the guest bedroom, I'll get my medical bag." the older man replied as he held the door open so they could bring Nick inside.

Nikki pointed down the hallway and the paramedics and Grissom carried their unconscious friend into the bedroom, Catherine quickly folded down the top blanket and sheet and they threw off his shoes and jacket and placed him under the blanket.

The elderly man entered carrying an old and worn medical bag and withdrew a stethoscope, placing it in his ears and the bell to Nick's chest. "He is wheezing, when is the last time he had a breathing treatment?"

Nikki looked at her watch,"It was probably around eight, he has a lower lobe pneumonia and two cracked ribs."

The paramedics had run to the ambulance to grab the supplies and were walking back in the room when Nicole grabbed the bag and set up the portable apparatus to give him a treatment, within minutes his breathing was improved and she then took a portable saturation monitor, checking the number which was very good.

"Cathy gave him a sleeping pill and his anti-anxiety drug, I am sure that it is hitting him pretty hard, he had only that short nap in the hallway." Nicole explained to the crowd in the room.

"Sounds like he just needs some sleep." The older man surmised as he placed the stethoscope back into his bag.

Sara and Gregg had joined the rest of the group and were standing at the doorway. Sara,seeing the older gentleman up close, suddenly it dawned on her, she had investigated a murder here, she had never accepted the evidence as a simple suicide. The older man never could be found, he had just disappeared, presumed dead.

She had always wondered if the daughter's father had killed them both and staged it as a suicide, something had not clicked then and now after meeting him in person, she really was getting a bad feeling. In trusting Nikki could they be placing Nick in danger again? She needed to get Grissom alone and speak with him, it could mean Nick's life.

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_Have you ever heard the saying stuck between a rock and a hard place, well, that is where Nick is right now. Just wanted to leave it here until the next chapter._

_More Judge Stokes antics next chapter too!_

_Feedback makes my day...but it does for any writer. Thank you!_


	14. Chapter 14

Author: Nicksfriend

Rating:

Spoilers: Grave Danger

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...that is for sure.

Author's note:This is my first CSI fic. Please be gentle.

_Thank you so much for the feedback! I love this place, hopefully I am improving as a writer, as a storyteller._

_Wow! Thank you for so much feedback. I am glad that you are with me still, it is greatly appreciated. I really never imagined this story have this many chapters but it is taking a life of it's own suddenly. Thanks to you and your input and support!_

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Grissom closed the door to Nick's bedroom leaving Catherine and Gregg sitting quietly in the room and walked into the kitchen where he lay out the folder with Nick's information. He looked over at Nicole and smiled,"Thank you for doing this for Nick."

His photographic memory kicking into full gear when he saw the older man. Pictures of the grandfather had been in the case file that Sara and Warrick had worked together the year before.

"No problem, this house is usually empty except for the surprise we found." Nicole responded, feeling uncomfortable now. Her grandfather was supposedly dead but now he was living in her parent's home. Something was not right.

"I guess you know that we did the investigation into your parent's death." Grissom was trying to see if Nicole could give him information that might assist in finding out why the grandfather just happened to show up now, after being presumed dead for more than a year.

"I was out of the country then,in Ireland. I had left on a sightseeing tour with some friends from work the week before they found my parents." Nicole's eyes filled with tears at the memory of finding out her parents had died three weeks later when she returned."I was staying in a remote location and nobody could reach me."

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Sara stood outside the door listening to the conversation in the kitchen, her mind reliving the crime scene, both parents found in their car in the garage ,engine running,the father was in the passenger seat and the mother was strapped into the driver's seat. She had found that suspicious in and of itself because the mother wore glasses and they were not on the body, they had been found upstairs in the bedroom on the bedside table. Yet, Doc Robbins had ruled the cause of death had been carbon monoxide poisoning.

The grandfather was a doctor at the local hospital and he also had a private practice. The man was considered a saint by his staff and his patients.

He had been know to go on spur of the moment trips with his friends to the Bahamas and other places where he could fish. His trophies hung in his office, large bass and even a few tiger sharks. He had a love of deep sea fishing and travel, it was the opinion of all the people she had talked to and nobody said a bad word about the man. No secrets in the closet, bank account was spotless and the insurance was all made out to Nicole. Nicole was the will's only beneficiary.

The tox screen had shown an unknown substance in both victims but was never identified. The woman's father had left for a boating trip in the Bahamas the day before, the timeline would have matched if the tank of gas had been full, which could not be established.

She listened closely for any clues that would confirm her suspicions of the grandfather's involvement.

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"It had to be difficult, returning and finding that your parents had committed suicide." Grissom was intently watching Nicole's reaction to his comment.

"Not only that but that my grandfather was also missing, presumed dead in a boating accident off the coast of St Thomas. He was deep sea fishing when bad weather came and capsized the boat my grandfather and his best friend was sailing. I guess it was a little overwhelming." The pain of the events still fresh in her mind.

"I'm sorry for your losses but it has to be comforting to know that your grandfather is still alive." Again seeing this still as a case more than a casual conversation.

"I guess, I was never very close to him. He was a medical doctor before he retired, he traveled a lot in his time off, guess that is where I get my love of travel." She smiled and placed a filter and a package of coffee into the coffee pot and flipped on the switch.

"Where has he been,did he say?" Grissom asked wondering why there was no hugs or welcoming embrace.

"If you have any questions you could actually ask me Mr Grissom." The older man suddenly appearing in the kitchen, seemingly knowing Grissom without an introduction, which was not lost on Grissom as he glanced up to the man who was now standing over him.

Grissom raised his eyes,seeing that the older man was being a little defensive."Not a problem Mr Davis, have a seat." Grissom waved at the seat directly in front of him,suddenly feeling more like an interrogator now than someone needing a favor for a friend.

Sara took that moment to walk in and take a seat, looking over at Nicole and smiling, "I'll take a cup of that when its finished." Pointing at the coffee pot.

"Absolutely, no problem." She pulled out another cup and looked at her grandfather, then closed the cabinet. Seeing the man was still overwhelming for her and she really wanted to talk to him alone.

"I have been in London most of the time, recuperating after my boating accident, I'm sure if you want to follow that up they have my records." The elderly man looked up at his granddaughter and smiled.

"The rest of the time I was at my Great Aunt's home in Brussels, her family wanted to care for me, I did not want to worry Nicole about my health. It was only recently that I found out that I had been thought of as dead so I came home. I was going to call Nicole at work tonight but then Jack informed me that she was coming here with a friend."

"How convenient Mr Davis." Sara looked at the man suspiciously.

"Well, Ms Sidle, I hear that you did a great job of investigating my daughter and her husband's death, we had been estranged for a while. I disagreed with some of her financial ventures, some of which might intrigue you if you have time to hear about them later."

Sara smiled at the smug man who seemed to have all the answers and names down pat,"I'm sure I'll have time."

"Can I have a cup of that?" Gregg interrupted as he entered the kitchen with Catherine following behind.

"Me too." Catherine joined in wanting a cup of whatever was in the coffee pot.

Nicole nodded as she pulled out more cups and another filter and bag of coffee. Pouring fresh cups of coffee and handing them out, readying another pot for those who did not get a cup the first go around.

"Nicky seems to be sleeping soundly." Catherine continued, "I hope that his father will just give up on this custody hearing now that Nick is out of the hospital. He just needs to go back to Texas."

"The chances of that happening is zero to none. He wants his son home,because only there can he control his actions." Grissom's focus now back on Nicky's folder.

"Does Nick have a lawyer for tomorrow's court hearing?" Gregg asked wanting to know that his friend would be well represented.

"Jim is taking care of it, told me not to worry. I will be a witness for Nick." Grissom lifted his fresh cup of coffee to his lips, enjoying the fresh brewed smell and taste."This is good, is it from a local shop?" The cup of coffee seemed foreign not domestic.

"It is from Canada, my daughter also loved to travel, they loved going to different locations to visit during the summer months. She loved coffee."

"This is terrific." Gregg, who always seemed like a connoisseur of coffee agreed with Grissom.

Sara was taking mental notes, she wanted to ask a dozen questions but knew now was not the time or place. She would have her turn at Mr Davis eventually.

"Listen Nicole, I'm beat, I'm going to bed. I will see you in the morning." The older man stood and left the room,all eyes watching as he walked out, Nicole not giving him a response.

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_Warrick drove up in the driveway just as a car pulled out,not recognizing them as anybody from the team he got out of the vehicle and walked up to the door._

_The house was just as he remembered it,he recalled the two bodies still in the car slumped over the steering wheel when he and Sara had arrived. The security guard had called 911 when he could get no response for a gardener's visit. It felt strange to actually be here as a guest now._

_He waited at the door for a response, Nicole opened the door and welcomed him in, pointing towards the kitchen where the rest of the team was awaiting his arrival._

"_How did it go after we left?" Catherine asked referring to the family._

"_Brass took care of the press, but I think he might of killed a famous movie star to accomplish that feat." Warrick joked, knowing that the man was going to catch hell for that diversion._

_The rest of the room smiled at the thought of Brass and his method of madness._

"_I'm not sure about the family though." Warrick admitted._

"_Let's just say that they had some nasty little plan for Nick,it involved drugging him and taking him home against his will." Grissom responded to the question._

_The room became quiet at the news for those who did not know what Grissom had overheard._

"_I've got to get home, I don't want to be late for court tomorrow. I probably won't be back for a few days, at least until I know that I won't be followed. Is there anything I need to do before I go?" Grissom stood and watched as Nicole fixed him a to go cup of coffee. Handing him the spill proof cup he nodded his thanks._

_Everybody shook their heads in unison, each prepared to stay for a couple of nights, the invitation given to them by Nicole._

_Sara stood to walk Grissom outside to his car,Warrick taking the moment to follow along with her._

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"_I don't trust him." Her words to the point as soon as they were out the door._

"_Listen Sara, just listen and find out what you can,don't throw around any accusations." Grissom warned her, "Nick is our main concern right now, I think Nicole will take care of her grandfather. We need to take care of Nick."_

"_I think I am a little confused." Warrick was wondering what they were talking about, the grandfather was dead._

"_The grandfather didn't die, he is upstairs in bed as we speak.  
She grinned a sad grin, knowing that caring for Nick was going to be rough but add a possible murderer in to the mess and it could disasterous._

"_Damn, poor Nick. He just can't catch a break." Warrick turned his head and stared at the golf course._

"_Warrick, Nick will be fine, he has the best people taking care of him. I just need to get rid of his family so we can get him back home where he belongs." Grissom opened the door to his car and looked at his two CSI'S,I am counting on you two, Nick needs you, don't get sidetracked."_

_They both nodded and watched as Grissom's car left. Both knew it was not that simple,they could be dealing with a murderer._

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_**Desert Palms Hospital**_

_**The families room**_

"How does my youngest son just disappear from a hospital without even a clue to where he has gone?" Judge Stokes asked John who seemed like a nervous first grader when it came to his father.

"I think he had assistance. His friends see us as the bad guys, like we are going to do harm to our own brother. What we are attempting to do for Nick is for his own good,why can't they see it Dad?" John had tried to get the police involved but Nick was discharged and where he went after discharge was his own business,Nick was not aware of the custody issue.

The Judge knew his true intentions but he would be damned of he was going to tell his son,his wife or daughters that he was not going to allow Nick to ruin a name he had worked so hard to establish."I don't know John but tomorrow is crucial in getting Nick home so he can heal."

"Everything is ready, the psychiatrist will meet us at the courthouse, Nick will be there and we can take care of things then." John feeling that he had done everything that his father wanted him to do for the court appearance.

"He is not going to be mandated to be at the hearing, only his power of attorney will need to be there, and if I were a betting man I would say that Nick will not be anywhere around. We need a private investigator to find my son. Then we will get Nick the help he needs." Judge stokes smiled and picked up the phone. "John make arrangements for a hotel tomorrow, this may take a day or two."

"Yes Dad, I'll get right on it." He walked into the next room with his cell phone already out calling information.

Judge Stokes shut his door, his wife in the room with his daughters asleep. He waited for the person to answer,"I need your assistance in getting Nick home." He paused then replied, "I knew I could count on you Jeff. I will see you in the morning." He hung up the phone knowing that the Undersheriff would be of the utmost help in getting him his son back.

He hit his speed dial again, this time he would have assistance in tracking down his son, it was nice to have friends in the FBI. GPS was a wonderful tool he thought to himself,all Nick needs to do is make a call from his cell phone and they would locate him.

A very groggy voice came over the phone but became very awake upon hearing the Judge's voice. Judge Stokes gave his friend the instructions to trace his son's cell then hung up, it was just a matter of time until his youngest son was home.

"Pancho,soon it will be like old times." Judge Stokes mumbled as he readied for bed.

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_Need to get to bed, have a court case for custody to write tomorrow, I am not a lawyer so I will need to do some research._

_Feedback is wonderful,you guys are wonderful! Thank you for reading!_


	15. Chapter 15

Author: Nicksfriend

Rating:

Spoilers: Grave Danger

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...that is for sure.

Author's note:This is my first CSI fic. Please be gentle.

Okay, I am not a lawyer, so please do not beat me if the terminology is not down to the dime. I really am just a nurse.

_Okay, my train of thought ...Nick never told his parents that the babysitter molested him...I found that totally weird at first and I could not figure it out except for one reason, Nick might of feared his father more and did want that wrath upon him. Sometimes you do not have to beat a child to inflict abuse, there is mental and emotional control, guilt trips, verbal abuse etc, etc. What would a child fear more... an abusive father or a babysitter who sexually abused you once. Sometimes small children's thoughts are not mature and they see the world in 'I have to deal with dad everyday but that babysitter maybe every once in a while' I think he made a choice, he blocked it out and decided to deal with it the best he could. Later he became a CSI to deal with both, to become his own man and break free of the father and to assist those who could not assist themselves._

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Warrick sat in the chair across the room, Nikki was sitting in the chair next to Nick's bed, sleeping. He had watched for the past hour Nick toss and turn, inside a dream he could not escape,probably the box,and with Walter Gordan talking to him. How could he help his friend.

Suddenly Nick sat up in bed, sweat dripping down his face and his hair matted to his head.

"Hey buddy, it's okay." Warrick attempted to comfort Nick, and he flipped on the light awakening Nikki.

"I'm sorry dad, I didn't mean to bust the taillight, I promise I will be careful next time, please Dad, please." He pleaded out loud.

"Nicky, it is fine. Nikki is here, I am here,everything is fine." Warrick again tried to comfort his friend.

"Nick, you are safe, calm down and rest." Nikki's voice was firmer than Warrick's, almost as if she were a parent. Taking her hand and smoothing away the hair that had fallen into his face.

Nick nodded, more alert now. Her voice had broken whatever spell the dream was having on his psyche.

Warrick looked on with surprise,she had just handled his friend better than he could.

Nick lay back down in the bed, seeming to have gotten over the dream and within minutes was sleeping soundly again.

"You are good, you work with trauma patients before?"Warrick asked as he pulled the sheet back over his friend.

"Everybody who comes into the ER almost is a trauma patient. I guess it is the years of experience."Smiling down at Nick. Tell me about him.

"About Nick?' He smiled and nodded. "He is the very best friend a person could have, ever."

Nikki was listening intently,"Sounds like you know from personal experience."

"Yeah,I do." He walked back over and sat down in his chair, glancing over at Nick who seemed to have gotten past the bad dream, maybe he knew that his friends were near.

"He is such a cowboy. Stubborn, yet strong." Smiling as she looked over to the man whom she had just fallen for in such a short amount of time.

"You got that stubborn thing right, he won't give up on a victim, he will push himself to the point of endangering his own health before he will let them down." Pausing for a few seconds he continued,"Sometimes I have accused him of caring too much but I was wrong. Maybe he is trying to make up for the rest of us who accept things too readily."

"He sounds like a really wonderful guy." Patting Nick on the arm gently she stood and walked over to where Warrick was sitting.

"Listen,my grandfather is a surprise and I never would endanger Nick, not for anything or anyone but I will be honest, I never trusted him, he has too many suspicious friends. We have never had a close relationship." Her voice lowered and tears welled into her eyes, her voice cracking with emotion, "I'm scared." She admitted to the man she knew that Nick trusted most, his friend.

Warrick nodded,"Listen, we do appreciate what you are doing for Nick. Hopefully we will be able to get Nick home in a couple of days and then get you back home too. It will be okay." Taking his hand and wiping away her tears, her soft skin underneath his rough hand,noticing for the first time how beautiful this woman was before him.

"Thank you" she whispered and gave him a soft smile then walked back over to her chair, taking her seat to watch over her charge. Knowing that the man in the bed had the best of friends.

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**0900**

**CLARK COUNTY COURT BUILDING**

**Family court building**

Grissom had arrived early after only a couple of hours of sleep. Jim stood in the hallway with a older man in a tie and suit.

"Gil this is Arbor lane." Jim introduced the older man.

"Glad to meet you, sorry it is under these circumstances." Lane stated flatly motioning him into a side room.

"Let's get down to the nitty gritty, Nicholas Stokes works under your supervision and his father wants custody or power of attorney to make his decisions until he is released from his psychiatrist whom he is seeing for PTSD, which could mean Nick is under his father's rule for weeks, months and possibly even years." Laying his briefcase on the table and gesturing for the other two men to take a seat.

"Sounds about right to me," Jim replied.

Gil nodded, putting Nick's folder out for the older man to see, the statement of Power of Attorney giving Gilbert Grissom that right and allowing said person to make decisions for him in the interim that he is unable to make decisions for himself.

After reading the document and seeing the seal of notary on the bottom he laid the paper down. "It is a done deal here in Las Vegas, he has declared you his POA. Judge Stokes can not undo this piece of paper even if Mr Stokes has made mistakes that would bring his mental status into question since this was written, this paper would stand unless something happened to you."

"Don't give them any ideas, they seem hell bent on getting Nick back to Texas." Jim smiled over to his friend who looked still a little bit worried.

"Listen I was on the elevator last night at the hospital and overheard a conversation. They have paid off a psychiatrist to declare Nick incompetent and to medicate him to get him home. Would this not be a form of coercion?" Grissom asked trying to see if they could be held accountable for their actions.

"We may need that bit of information if they try to move forward after this hearing. This hearing is mostly to determine who has the rightful power of attorney for one Nicholas Stokes. The judge may want a psychological evaluation for our client and we would have to comply. He may have certain stipulations regarding who makes decisions for Mr Stokes in the meantime."

"Which means what?" Grissom asked wondering what the lawyer was talking about.

"The Judge may appoint someone from within to make decisions for our client until this matter is resolved. It could be a social worker or another judge." Lane explained to the two men.

"Judge Stokes has many friends and they could be easily persuaded to allow him to take Nick home to Texas." Grissom was now worried.

"We would ask for stipulations regarding no travel, no major decisions regarding any medical treatment he is now receiving unless it was brought back to the courts." Lane looked at the document again, "I really don't think we have anything to worry about." He stood and motioned for the two men to follow him into court.

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Nick awakened to the sight of the beautiful redhead sleeping beside his bed. He smiled and stretched, feeling the ache in his side, much better than the sharp pain he had experienced the day before.

Looking over to the other side of the room he saw his best friend, who was looking rather adorable with drool running down his chin, his head falling to the side and his tongue sticking out ever so little bit, wishing he had a camera.

He pushed himself up in bed and threw his feet over the side, he spotted what had to be the bathroom on the other side of the room and after a few minutes he got into a standing position and slowly walked over to the door.

As he walked into the room his reflection in the mirror made him halt his movements and reflect on what he had experienced over the past few days. The bites had started to fade some on his face and hands, his arms still covered in gauze.

Slowly he removed his clothing and the gauze bandages, the adapter in his arm he covered with a plastic trash can liner and some tape he found in the cabinet. He wanted to take a shower, he cut the water on as hot as he could tolerate and stood in the steady,heavy stream. The water beaded on the bites, he gritted his teeth at the pain but it was a good pain. He was just happy to take a shower again.

Warrick opened his eyes and looked over to Nikki who was still sleeping but Nick was gone but by the sound of the water running he knew his friend was attempting to take a shower.

"Hey Nick, You in there man?" Knocking at the door trying to get Nick's attention.

"Yeah." Nick responded back, just wanting to have a few minutes of privacy.

"You need any help?" he stopped and thought about that statement,"Just yell if you need anything."

Nick could not help but to smile and shake his head at his friend,"I'll call you if I need you Rick but I am just taking a shower."

Nikki was now awake and in full nurse mode,"Who told you that you could take a shower by yourself?" her voice all business, the sound of her voice resounding through the door.

He could get by Warrick but the nurse, probably not, She was something of a tiger when she was mad, "Almost done."

"Almost? You are done and if you messed up that IV , I am going to stick it back in myself and I guarantee it will hurt." Her red headed temper flaring and her concern evident for her patient, her friend.

The water stopped and after a few seconds he opened the door, a towel wrapped around his waist. Sara and Gregg had left his bags at the door and Warrick quickly found him underwear and sweats.

Nikki gave Nick a forgiving look and picked up his arms, the wounds from all the ant bites still evident, to assess the IV, " Guess I can't get too mad at you, at least you covered it up."

"I try to please my nurse,guess I didn't want to be in time out." A term he was very familiar with having nieces and nephews.

Warrick returned with the clothing, "You might want to try and please me more, I will put you in more than just time out buddy." A very serious look crossed his partners face.

"Sorry, guess I wasn't thinking." Nick gave Warrick an apologetic look.

"You damn right you better be sorry, If you had fallen I would have had to carry your naked ass out of there, and that would have pissed me off Nick Stokes." Smiling at he end of his tirade.

"Point made, I won't do it again." He walked over to the bed waiting for an angry Nikki to turn her head.

"I've already seen it Nick, just get your clothes on now!" She then smiled and turned , seeing his reddened face was pay back enough.

"Done." he mumbled as he tried to stand again.

"Whoa Nick, where do you think you are going?" Warrick asked as he placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

"I am not lying in bed all day or staying in a dark room. I want to get out and see sunshine again." Wanting to feel that he was still not trapped in a dark box.

"I'll get you some slippers." Warrick went to retrieve the shoes from his bag. Understanding that Nick was somehow still trying to get out the of box mentally.

"The home health nurse will be here at eleven so can you try to eat breakfast?" Nikki asked as she undid the plastic and tape around the IV and redid it with drier tape.

"Yeah, maybe something light, fruit or toast." He watched as her hands fixed the bandages back on his arms.

"Here you go Nick."Warrick was handing him his shoes.

"Thanks Warrick." he sat down and slipped the shoes on his feet, then slowly stood up again.

Sara and Gregg were waiting at the door, wanting to see Nick.

"Hey, you're looking better." Sara said dryly.

"Yeah, we can honestly say we have seen worse." Gregg teased at Nick.

Nick smiled at Gregg getting the dead joke."Ha Ha Greggo, you should have been a comedian."

"I think I would have done great at a comedy club. I just would have wasted all my talents."

"Yeah what talents are those Gregg, bullshitting?" Warrick took his turn at Gregg.

"Ow, that hurt." Gregg feigned a pain in his chest.

Catherine appeared at the door, happy to see Nick up and dressed. "Breakfast is ready,come on Nick, I have a place set for you too."

The group followed and Nikki took Nick's arm to assist in steadying him through the hallway.

Nick smiled down at his nurse,"Thanks."

"No problem, actually I do this for all the cowboys I care for." Smiling up at the tall man.

"Yeah, I bet you do." Giving her arm a gentle squeeze.

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**0900**

**CLARK COUNTY COURT BUILDING**

**Family court building**

"Please stand, the Honorable Judge Michaels will be presiding." The bailiff announced.

The court room was small and all stood until the judge sat down, then they all took their seats. Judge Stokes looking over at Grissom with a venomous stare. Grissom stayed in control and looked away.

This would be a long day in court.

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Okay, a good place to stop for a day. Feed me!


	16. Chapter 16

Author: Nicksfriend

Rating:

Spoilers: Grave Danger

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...that is for sure.

Author's note:This is my first CSI fic. Please be gentle.

Okay, I have to give thanks first to all who have given great feedback.Thank You very much, you make me want to add a chapter every day but in the real world I do need to work so this will have to do until Monday. At least I am honest.

Some of you might kill me after this chapter but I will die a noble death at least, try to find some forgiveness. Then maybe again, you might like??

Okay, here we go!

0900

**CLARK COUNTY COURT BUILDING**

**Family court building**

"_Please stand, the Honorable Judge Michaels will be presiding." The bailiff announced._

_The court room was small and all stood until the judge sat down, then they all took their seats. Judge Stokes looking over at Grissom with a venomous stare. Grissom stayed in control and looked away._

_This would be a long day in court._

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I need to see the lawyer for Mr Nicholas Stokes and the lawyer for Judge Stokes at the bench.

Lane stood up as did Judge Stokes lawyer and they approached the bench.

Grissom and Brass watched but could not hear what was occurring up front but it was making Lane angry and when it was over he quickly took a seat, not giving Grissom or Brass a clue to what just occurred.

John Stokes looked over to the table and smiled, his lawyer letting them know that the POA document in Nick's file was invalid, it lacked one significant thing to stand up in court.

The Judge looked at Grissom and spoke, "Mr Gilbert Grissom, the document found in Nicholas Stokes personnel file could be considered invalid. It names you as his power of attorney but it does not specify any particular event other than work related events that it would cover so my concern is the validity of the document itself. Is it a true POA document,and also does it lack a valid notary.

That got Grissom's attention, what the hell were they talking about, the notary was their own legal secretary and it was a standard form for all power of attorneys.

"When Mr Stokes filled out this document a Miss Valerie Carter was the notary, correct?" The Judge was trying to get to his point.

Grissom nodded to his attorney and answered "Yes, she was our secretary at that time and she notarized the document."

"Being a notary requires that you have at least a high school diploma. This being the case it has been brought to my attention that when Mr Stokes signed this document and Valerie Carter notarized it was under the pretense that she had a high school diploma and was working on her degree as a legal secretary."

Brass nudged Grissom, he had written something down on a piece of paper,'Valerie Carter was a high school drop out, she obtained her GED to get her job as secretary, a technicality.'

Grissom passed the paper to Lane who seemed disinterested. Ignoring it completely. This sent Grissom's radar up and he quickly surmised that Arbor Lane might be a part of Judge Stokes's plan.

"Your honor, may I have a second to talk to Nick's lawyer." Grissom interrupted.

"Mr Grissom, it is not customary for a witness to interrupt a Judge. Consider this a warning." He looked down at Grissom's table over his glasses.

Grissom looked over to Judge Stokes who was appearing very smug along with his son John.

Judge Michaels continued "Valerie Carter is not considered a legal notary by this court and this document will not be admissible." He glanced down at the file again, "It is therefore customary to give the power of attorney to the nearest relative, which appears to be his parents."

"We've been duped,even here he has the power to control and make things happen his way."Brass whispered to Grissom.

Grissom nodded, he could not let Nick down. This would mean Nick's life, he had to find a way to change this outcome before it happened.

Then Lane who had seemed to be changing sides earlier stood, "I object on the grounds that a GED is the equivalent of a high school diploma and the state of Nevada recognizes that as part of their criteria for their granting of a notary commission. It actually states that an equivalent of a high school diploma is also acceptable and to work for any government agency one must possess a high education or equivalent. Valerie Carter's notary on this document is therefore valid and this document is admissible which that states that Nick Stokes legal power of attorney is Gilbert Grissom."

The door to the courtroom opened and Grissom turned around to see the undersheriff, Jeffery McKeen walk in and take a seat. Judge Michaels head raised to acknowledge his presence but Judge Stokes also acknowledged the man's presence, this was not lost on Grissom who caught the eye contact between the men immediately.

Nick's lawyer pulled out a piece of paper,"May I approach the bench?"

The Judge nodded and Lane went to the bench followed by Judge Stokes's lawyer. Another round of arguments ensued and again the lawyers left the bench but this time it was Lane who was smiling.

"It has been brought to my attention that there is also another document notarized by Judge Stokes's legal secretary that indicates that his power of attorney is Gilbert Grissom. This document seems to have occurred at approximately the same time frame as the other document." Judge Michaels looked astonished at this new piece of information.

Judge Stokes also looked equally amazed at the fact that this document had been located. He was not even aware of this document. Someone in the family had to be assisting Nick, and they would be dealt with firmly and he had a secretary who needed to be fired. Nobody keeps information like that away from him.

Judge Michaels looked at the legal document and shook his head, it covered all aspects of any legal issue that might come into question. He would have to go in a different direction to assist the federal judge.

"The court will take a ten minute break to examine this new piece of evidence." Judge Michaels stood and quickly exited the room.

"Where did that document come from?" Grissom asked Lane who seemed busy trying to write a note.

"I honestly don't know, it just showed up in my morning mail and I thought it might come in handy. It said it was from a friend." Lane quickly stood and excused himself, "I'll be back in a minute."

Grissom and Brass looked at each other, this battle was not over yet and they were working against the odds, two judges and an undersheriff.

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Nikki looked at the comfortable way Nick and his team members sit together at the breakfast table. Regardless of Nick's injuries he seemed to be able to laugh and to joke with his colleagues.

"Nick,you want to try my hash browns?" Catherine asked as he stood to go back for seconds.

"Nah, Warrick's fried runny eggs were enough."He was pushing his food around in the plate more than eating it, which did not escape Nikki's attention. She was monitoring his eating habits for t he physicians, she would mention it to him later when he was alone.

Catherine gave him a look, also noting that he was not eating,"Here try a raisin muffin, it might do better on your stomach," Thinking maybe he just didn't want to hurt his friend's feelings.

Taking the muffin and breaking off a small piece and then putting it in his mouth, his taste buds must have been damaged because everything was tasting like cardboard."Did you make these yourself? Looking up at Catherine.

"No. I made them, they're organic." Sara spoke up feeling pleased that Nick had attempted to eat the muffin.

"That figures." He spoke before he thought, catching a piece of toast up side of his head.

"Nick Stokes, you are so rude." Sara acted hurt but laughed causing everybody else to laugh too."And your honest, these are terrible."

"NOOOOO, they are organically good Sara." Making a face as he took another bite.

"Stop it Nick, I admit I am not a cook. Don't make yourself sick by eating it." she giggled as she took the muffin out of his hand and tossed it into the trash.

"I would have eaten it Sara." He nodded as if he was eager to get another bite.

"Sure, but I don't want to clean of the vomit afterwards." she quipped.

"Oh man, not while I'm eating." Gregg moaned at hearing the word vomit.

"Get over it Gregg, it is a natural body function when one ingests something that is uneatable." Warrick joined in to the mix.

"Enough about my cooking. Would anybody like to go out and sit on the deck and watch the men hit the balls into the holes?" Sara stood and walked towards the patio door.

"It's called golf Sara, its a man's sport." Gregg smiled and continued to eat.

Sara turned and glared at him,"Women play it too Gregg,but it just seems like a boring,trivial game to me."

"My point exactly, a man's sport. We have the mental ability to stayed focused" Catching a muffin up side his head,"Hey, I would have eaten that."

Nick was enjoying his friends but needed some fresh air and sunshine, it had been days since he actually saw the sun."I will join you Sara." Nick offered as he slowly made it to a standing position, Warrick stood and moved next to him in case he needed help.

"I'll help clean." Warrick volunteered to assist Catherine who was already clearing the table as he watched Sara and Nick go outside.

"Fresh air will do him good." Warrick spoke to those left in the kitchen, "Maybe I'll take him for a ride later in Gregg's car." He had driven Grissom's car last night to the house so now he was without a car.

"Nobody drives my car but me, I will take him for a drive." Gregg stood and brought his plate over to the sink.

"I don't want to scare him to death, I will drive Gregg." Warrick using more of an authoritative voice with the young CSI.

"Then I will be in the back seat." Gregg complied with his stipulation.

"Hey, here is the keys to my Jeep, it hasn't been driven in a while but the insurance is up to date and it has a full tank of gas. It probably needs the engine started anyways if you guys need an extra vehicle." Nikki offered as she cleared her plate.

"Thanks" Warrick nodded and took the offered keys.

"Listen I need to ready some things for the home health visit. I also am going to call Dr Kasey and see if he can do a telephone visit today,I don't think it to wise to go back to Las Vegas yet." Nikki started towards the bedroom.

"She has a point. The family may attempt to intercept." Warrick agreed that the judge might try to get at Nick via his regular office visit." Arrangements would need to be made to either bring the doctor there or have a meeting place that would not allow the father to find Nick..

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The sun was already shining bright as they walked onto the deck, the enormous swimming pool glistening as the sun reflected on the sparkling clear water.

Nick did not immediately sit down, instead he stood, his face up towards the sky, closing his eyes and allowing the sun to shine down on the sensitive ant bites, as Sara looked on in sadness.

Sara could only imagine what it was like to be trapped in that box but watching Nick stand there, his wounds proof of his terrible ordeal, it was more of a reality check. Nick had really suffered.

"I never thought I would feel the warmth of day again." His voice was low, almost seeming too difficult for him to speak of the event.

Sara walked closer and placed a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder," It's over Nick. Then man is dead, he can't hurt anybody anymore."

"The man was suffering Sara, seeing his daughter imprisoned and for what? A fingerprint on a cup." He seemed lost in thought, expressing his thoughts out loud.

"Only you Nick would be able to empathize with the daughter and your captor. You always seem to see things differently than the rest of us, as if you have been there yourself." Making the statement without considering what he had been through with Crane.

"Maybe I have." His only reply, remembering his stalker but also a time when he was a kid and how his life was changed with one visit from a demented babysitter.

She raised her brows upon remembering his stalker Nigel Crane,"Sorry Nick."

"It's okay Sara,I've been broken for a long time." His voice so soft and full of pain that Sara almost didn't hear it. He then turned to her and gave her a small smile."Let's get in the shade, don't want you to burn."

She nodded, wanting to continue the conversation but seeing that Nick was not ready to reveal whatever it was that had broken him in his past,knowing herself that it was not easy to express hidden truths. She wondered silently what his father had done to Nick for him to refuse him a close relationship. What had happened to the trust a child has in his father.

They walked into the shaded area of the deck and took a seat just in time to see a golfer throw down his club and curse, the ball rolling well past the eighteenth hole,"Guess, it isn't as boring as I thought."Sara smiled and looked over to Nick who was letting out a laugh himself.

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The Judge entered the courtroom again and they all took a seat.

"I have reviewed the document and found it admissible in determining the power of attorney for Nicholas Stokes, let the record show that two documents stated the same thing that a Gilbert Grissom would make his medical and all other decisions for him in case he was unable to make said decisions for himself." He then handed the documents to the court clerk.

"Now I have to make a decision regarding what the court feels it is in the best interest of Mr Stokes, The record states that he was taken from a crime scene by a Mr Walter Gordan, drugged and buried alive for almost twenty-four hours. Is this correct Mr Grissom?" The judge trying to obtain as much information before he made a decision hoping that he could possibly find a way to get Judge Stokes a way to get custody.

"That is correct." Grissom replied, not giving any information other than what was asked.

The Judge then looked over to Judge Stokes table, knowing that he probably would not like the decision but it was the best he could do without disregarding the law but it would be enough to delay things long enough to where Judge Stokes could take matters into his own hands.

"I would like to have Mr Nicolas Stokes evaluated by both a court appointed psychiatrist and Judge Stokes psychiatrist for competency issues so the court can move forward on getting him the assistance that he needs and see if he in fact needs a power of attorney to make decisions for him."The Judge looked up to see the attorney for Mr Stokes stand up.

"I object." Lane spoke up wanting to have the current EPA appointed psychiatrist to do the evaluation for the court. "I would consider Dr. William Kasey's evaluation appropriate for competency evaluation, he is an LVPD psychiatrist and is fully qualified to make that decision."

Judge stokes lawyer stood about to abject to Dr Kasey when the judge held up his hand,"That would be fine, he is a qualified psychiatrist."

Lane then dropped his bombshell, "I also will object to the psychiatrist that has been appropriated by Judge Stokes on the grounds that we have a witness to a conversation of John Stokes to his father that would cause doubt to his intentions."

Judge Stokes lawyer quickly bent over to talk to his client and held up his hand, " My client will withdraw his psychiatrist and will go with the evaluation of Dr Kasey also."

Judge Michaels looked over to Judge Stokes who's reddened face was glaring at his son John. "It is settled, this needs to occur as soon as possible. In the meantime Gildbert Grissom will continue to make decisions for Nicholas Stokes but this is contingent upon his mental evaluation. I would also like to have a social worker to speak with Mr Stokes to see if he has any concerns with this arrangement and this needs to happen immediately."

He glanced back at the undersheriff who was now walking out the door and he took a deep breath, "This court is adjourned until the evaluation of Nicholas Stokes, both parties will be notified of the follow up." He stood and left to go to his chambers. Judge Stokes and his son quickly left the room followed by their lawyer.

Lane looked down at Grissom, with a look of relief."I hope we can trust Dr Kasey."

Grissom nodded his head in agreement,Nick's life depended upon that one assessment.

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Okay, it is long and forgive me again, not a lawyer. I hope you like but it is not over, the social worker will be instructed to meet with Nick that day, Grissom will be confronted with the issue of allowing the social worker to come there or have Nick to go to their office.This could mean some trouble for Nick!


	17. Chapter 17

Author: Nicksfriend

Rating:

Spoilers: Grave Danger

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...that is for sure.

Author's note:This is my first CSI fic. Please be gentle.

Thank you again for all that you give, the comments are great...hope you enjoy and for those who love a tormented Nick...well, this one is for you!

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"Hey Nick, your home health nurse is here, she is waiting in the bedroom." Warrick announced with his head stuck out the door to the patio.

Sara assisted Nick in getting up, his body stiff from sitting too long in the same place."Thanks Sara." His voice showing how tired he had become,his stamina was a zero on a scale of one to ten.

As he entered the door he was met by Nikki,"Hey, you don't look so good. You okay?",assessing his pale and sweaty face. His movements were slower than earlier, and he moved as if he were in pain.

"I'm fine, just over did it I guess." Holding back a moan as his rib cage was screaming at him for something for pain.

"That's fair, you just look like hell." Knowing that he was not being totally honest with her.

He turned and gave her a smile,"Then I look like my old self."

"Actually worse." She teased as she assisted him in to the room.

The nurse was standing at the door, "Hi Mr Stokes, my name is Cassie Lane, I'm with Friends Home Health care."

"Hi, nice to meet you." He answered as he made his way to the bed and took a seat, the nurse following.

"Actually I need to weigh you so you need to stand again." Cassie readied the stand up scale that she had brought with her.

Nick hated this, he felt that this was going to be a sticky point since his appetite was less than stellar. He slowly stood and stepped on the scale,the reading was seven pounds less than what he had weighed on his admission to the ICU.

Cassie recorded the number, the doctors had instructed her to watch his weight,his lack of appetite had been noted before discharge. "That was good, I need for you to continue standing for a few seconds."

He nodded and watched as Nikki looked on with great interest, she was probably taking mental notes, more food and more rest. He knew that he was already in trouble.

"Have you been having any problems sleeping?" she asked as she prepared a syringe of antibiotics for injection.

The needle was not lost on her patient who was staring at it with high intensity

"I sleep fine, except for a few bad dreams but I have had worse in my life time." He was going to be honest as much as he could without being placed in a mental ward but his attention could not be diverted from the syringe.

"Mr Stokes I need to give you a dose of Gentamycin, it is a one time dose but the doctors wanted to take a few precautions since you are no longer in the hospital for closer observation." Cassie, walked over and tugged at his sweats to expose his hip,swabbing it with the alcohol swab with her gloved hand.

"Wait, wait."His voice almost pleading. "I have a problem with needles, especially those that go there." pointing at his hip.

"Okay,maybe we should lie you down." Cassie looked over to Nikki who was smiling, the men always had problem with needles, women were so much braver.

Nick took a supine position on the bed and closed his eyes, the sting of the syringe was not so bad but the thick liquid burned and it almost brought tears to his eyes,"That it?" he questioned as she withdrew the metal from his skin.

"Unfortunately,no. The Gentamycin needs to go also in the other hip." She explained as she readied another syringe,"We can only give three milliliters in one area with an injection, so it has to be divided into two injections." She gave him a sad look,"I am so sorry."

He closed his eyes and gathered himself for another assault of the medicine, this was worse than the intravenous lines,he thought to himself. He complied and rolled over slowly, his ribs giving him a bit of a problem as he grimaced and rolled. Both nurses staring at him with a look of empathy.

The second injection was as bad as the first, causing him to moan out loud. He grabbed the pillow on the bed and placed it over his head to hide the tears that had escaped, he felt like such a wimp, what had happened to his pain tolerance? He had suffered worse but never allowed it to effect him the way this just did.

Cassie and Nick looked at each other knowing that their patient was just showing signs of the PTSD,a simple injection allowing him to express an emotion that he was trying to keep intact, tears were normal even with the most simple of procedures.

Cassie patted her patients shoulder as she withdrew the needle, knowing that her job had just began. There was a lot more to accomplish before she left.

"Nick, you okay?" Nikki asked as she gently rubbed his arm.

A muffled, "I'm fine." came out from under the pillow.

"Mr Stokes, I need to get something from the car, I'll be back in a few minutes." Cassie was giving her patient time to recuperate.

As Cassie left the room Nick removed the pillow,"That hurt."

Nikki nodded,"I know but it's over. The rest of the procedures are actually easier compared to the injections." seeing his red eyes and the wetness on the pillow.

"I sure as Hell hope so. No more shots today." Nick tossed the pillow aside and sat up on the side of the bed, feeling as if this was going to be one hell of a nurse visit. The ache in his hips now competing with the pain in his ribs.

Nikki walked over and tried to comfort Nick, taking hold of his hand."Listen, it does get easier as you heal. I promise.", giving him a small grin.

"Yeah, I hope so, I hate needles." Giving her a small grin back, but deep inside he knew that was the most honest statement that he had ever uttered.

Cassie re-entered with a box. Setting it down she motioned for Nikki to assist her with what she was doing, Nikki smiled and walked over, whispers were barely heard from across the room but Nick knew it had to do with him.

"Mr Stokes, I know that you have been through a lot but I do need to get some blood for some tests the doctors ordered." Cassie pulled out some colored tubes and another needle.

"Is it necessary?" he asked feeling as if his tolerance had already been reached with pain.

"Yes sir, it is very necessary. Your white count has been elevated and it needs to be followed up due to the pneumonia." explaining the reasoning for the the tests.

He voluntarily held out his arm and closed his eyes,"Just get it over with. Okay?" his voice low and sad.

Cassie placed the tourniquet on his right arm and felt for a good vein, she only wanted to put him through this once, his central line in his femoral vein, which had been removed before his discharge, had prevented him from so many needle sticks.

After finding a vein in his arm,she noticed that the bites were still red and swollen, preventing her from having too many choices, having to go below the bandages, she swabbed it with an alcohol pad and pushed the needle in gently, collecting the five vials of blood for her needed tests. She noted her patient closing his eyes. Nikki standing at his side offering a comforting hand to his back.

"It's done." She announced as she held pressure with a gauze to the site that still continued to bleed.

Her patient just nodded, focusing on something else, a distant look. He was back in the box the ants still stinging at his skin,his heart racing, Terror filled his mind. He could not escape what he was seeing and hearing, like a dream but not.

_CSI guy, I am right here, I am not going to leave you. Awake or asleep, I am right here, just like your memories of your babysitter just sitting here awaiting for you to get your gun and put it in your mouth._

_Don't let the ants bite CSI guy, their sting can be deadly,but not as deadly as your gun. Why aren't you doing what I told you to do, breathe quick or slow, you will die here._

Nick started shaking, his breathing rapid. Nikki looked down at him and knew immediately that he was having a flashback."Cassie, do you have any IV medications, Valium or Ativan?" she asked nervously as Nick started swiping away imaginary bugs.

Cassie removed the pressure from Nick's arm and ran to her bag, pulling out another container and reaching inside, pulling out a vial. She pulled out another syringe and filled it with a milliliter of the thick clear liquid and brought it over to a now very agitated Nick.

"Get them off. Get them off me now!" he shouted.

Warrick and Catherine entered the room hearing Nick's cries for help.

"What's wrong with Nick?" Warrick questioned seeing his friend fighting imaginary ants.

"Flashback. Help us get him over to his side." The IV was now lying on the floor, blood oozing from the site."Cassie, your going to have to stick him in his arm,his hips are too sore."

Cassie nodded and pushed up the sleeve to his shirt, did a quick swab and jabbed the needle into his muscle. Nick tried to move away from the intrusive object but Nikki held on to him, even with his struggles.

Warrick watched as she pushed the thick liquid, causing Nick to scream and try to fight. His movements ended quickly when Warrick placed his hands on his legs and spoke." Nick, you need to lie still, let the nurses help you."

He qucikly stilled his movements, a look of fear crossed his face,"I am sorry Dad. I am so sorry." His voice became low,almost inaudible."I promise, I will be good. I promise. Please, I promise."

His body was starting to relax, his drugged state making it impossible for him to focus his eyes or his attention,sleep starting to grip him quickly. His voice muffled,his voice slurred from the medication,"Don le him hur me." Finally the drugged worked and sleep came.

Warrick did not want to be associated with his father it was too painful to watch his friend,what had his father done to him? What had Gordan done to him?He backed away from the bed, tears filled his eyes,he then turned and left the room.

Catherine stood in shock,knowing the full implications of what Nick had said,wondering what if Nick had tried to tell his father about that night when he was nine. How would his father have reacted? Her heart broke for her him, she knew that they needed to protect him now more than ever.

She moved over and assisted the two nurses in getting Nick comfortable, his body under the blanket and the bleeding in his arm to stop. The home health nurse was writing notes for the doctor. Unfortunately this would have to be communicated to his doctors,even Dr Kasey.

Nikki continued to rub his back, whispering words of comfort. She knew this would pass eventually, it was a part of his post traumatic stress diagnosis. She also knew it would get worse before it improved.

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Grissom and Brass walked into the Judges' chambers and took a seat.

Judge Michaels entered with an older woman, "Gentlemen, this is Gretta Foster, a social worker for the state of Nevada, she will be seeing Mr Stokes this afternoon."

Grissom was about to speak when the Judge interrupted,"There will be a meeting with her today and Dr Kasey afterwards. I will need their evaluations in my office no later than nine o'clock tomorrow morning. So make arrangements for Mr Stokes to be here today. I will not tolerate any change in these deadlines, do I make myself clear?"

"I will plan on seeing Mr Stokes at four o'clock, try not to be late." The social worker then handed Grissom her card and left the room.

Grissom knew that he was being set up but did not know how to prevent it,Nick was fine other than the bites, bad dreams and lack of sleep. He could get Warrick and Greg to bring Nick to the office, so he could see them both today."I don't anticipate a problem." his only reply as he stood and walked out,Brass following close behind.

As they walked out into the hallway Brass shook his head and rubbed at his eyes,"We are so screwed."

Grissom nodded and continued to walk down the hallway, pulling out his cellphone to make a call to Catherine.

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As Catherine's phone rang she quickly exited Nick's room,"Catherine." she answered, seeing that it was Gil.

"I need Warrick and Gregg to bring Nick to my office in about," he paused as he looked at his watch,"an hour and a half."

"That might be impossible, Nick just had a really bad flashback they had to medicate him. Is there any way we could do this tomorrow?" Her motherly nature showing by being very protective of Nick.

"Catherine, this man is a hard ass and I suspect that he is trying to assist Nick's father in getting custody but I can't prove it,even the undersheriff showed up for the hearing."

"Dammit Gil, this is not fair, Nick deserves better." Catherine tried to keep her voice down but she was angry and finding it very difficult to maintain control.

"Catherine, tell Nikki to bring some Narcan, maybe we can reverse the side effects of the drug and get Nick able to answer some simple questions." Grissom tried to think of another way but could not, at least not without jeopardizing the custody hearing.

"I will tell her Gil, but the flashback was really bad,I'm worried that bringing him back awake could hurt him more than help him." Catherine admitted,"I'm really concerned."

"Me too but the alternative is a lot worse, Nick's father will go to whatever extreme to get his son,I can't help but to wonder why he revels in this kind of control over his family. What kind of sick game is he playing?" Grissom speaking his thoughts out loud to his best friend.

"We can't let him down Gil,there is too much at stake." Catherine's voice soft and full of pain.

Grissom felt the same way, they would have to take precautions."Listen, Nick's father might try to get to Nick, bring him to my office first and we will proceed from there,"

"We will be there." she ended the call and placed her cell on vibrate and walked back into the bedroom, motioning for Nikki and Cassie to come over to her, noticing her friend was now lying quietly in bed.

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Nikki's grandfather sat in his dark room, starring out the window, watching Sara and Gregg snoop around the house, he would have to get rid of the distractions,they could not spoil his plans.

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I know my evil side is showing but I hope you like. Let me know so I can grow.


	18. Chapter 18

Author: Nicksfriend

Rating:k

Spoilers: Grave Danger

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...that is for sure.

Author's note:This is my first CSI fic. Please be gentle.

Wow. Feedback can be a little brutal sometimes can't it, but don't get me wrong it is appreciated and it does help me grow as a writer. I guess I wasn't expecting so much negative regarding this story though, especially since I really was enjoying writing it until last week. Then I took a little break to see why I was getting all the negative,you know self evaluation. Maybe I just need to make myself a little bit clearer, so here it is. I wrote this story mainly to introduce Nikki and her grandfather who by the way will not do much more in this fic,so I can write another fic which will be a CSI based story._ Nick and Nikki's relationship will bloom but grandfather may not be who he claims which will complicate matters,but that is another story. _We all see that Judge Stokes is a controlling character,he wields power wherever he is because he is a federal judge. I had to give him this power over the judge determining Nick's future not only to show Judge Stokes as the controlling character he is but also soon you will see how cunning Nick is and how he will show his father how strong of a man he really is,but you will have to wait and see how this will happen.

There are not a lot of Nick based stories out there, which is why I write. He is such a modern day hero and such a charmer. I give kudos to George Eads for making him such a great character to write about.

My advice to my readers:Continue to be honest with your critiques it makes us better writers. I appreciate you as a reader and as my most honest audience. Thank You.

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The intravenous port had been reestablished and the narcan had been given, Nick though still a little groggy sat quietly in the backseat staring out the window,listening to the soft music that was playing.

Silently he wished that he had taken the offer from Greg to drive him back,but Catherine and Warrick had won so now he was longing for a little Willie Nelson rather than the soulful music of some jazz singer.

Nick was jarred from his inner musings by a voice from up front,"What?" he asked, the question missed due to his yearning for something different in music.

"Nick, I said are you okay?" Catherine asked as she peered over the seat.

"I'd be better if you would change the radio channel." He gave her a smile and a wink,knowing that she would understand his humor.

"Nick, I am not changing this channel, so get use to it, I am not a hee haw kind of guy." Warrick kept his eyes on the road but Nick could see him smiling in the rear view mirror.

"Ow, that hurt Warrick." Nick sounding more like his old self.

Catherine glanced down at her watch, they were running a little bit late, it had taken a while to get Nick awake and after a couple cups of coffee and a high energy bar he had perked up well,"I need to call Grissom, we are running late."She pulled out her cell and hit the speed dial.

"Where are you Catherine, I have a judge and a social worker breathing down my neck here." Grissom was perturbed at the lateness, not understanding what it had taken to get Nick ready and alert enough to be here.

"We're pulling in now, we'll be there in a minute." She hung up the phone as they pulled into their parking area.

"Nick, Grissom says they are waiting so we need to hurry." Catherine instructed as she opened her car door.

Nick opened his car door and stepped out, not needing any assistance. His color had actually improved and he seemed almost like the old Nick. He reached down and picked up his jacket that was lying in the seat."Let's go." Taking a deep breath as he started towards the door.

Warrick and Catherine looked at each other, wondering where this new Nick came from, a man who was having flashbacks just a couple of hours ago now in full control. They were both worried how long his new energy would last.

Gretta Foster was an older woman in her mid fifties. Her graying hair was cut short and she was of a small stature. She sat waiting patiently for her new client. Looking over at Grissom then she glanced at her watch."Guess they are running a little late?" Her pleasant voice was comforting to the him, his paranoia easing just for a second.

Suddenly the door opened and in walked Nick followed by Warrick and Catherine.

"Sorry we're late," Catherine apologized.

"I understand, from what I gather you, Nick Stokes, are very fortunate to be alive." Gretta stood to shake his hand and to introduce herself,"I'm Mrs Gretta Foster, your court appointed social worker."

" Hello,this is Catherine Willows and Warrick Brown." He introduced his friends and coworkers, letting his social worker know who they were and he wanted to give her the appearance that he was in control. Then they all took a seat.

"I guess I will cut to the chase so you can get to Dr Kasey's appointment given the strict deadlines from the judge. Basically I just want to know how you are doing?"

Nick smiled, "Better everyday,especially since I got out of the hospital." which was the truth but he felt she didn't need all the details,sitting in the hard chair reminded him just how bad his hips were hurting but he would tolerate.

"I am actually glad to hear that Mr Stokes." She smiled at her charge and wrote a note on a sheet of paper.

"Now you chose Mr Grissom as your Power of Attorney several years ago. Are you still wanting him to make decisions for you right now?" She asked knowing that the Judge needed to know if this was still fine with Mr Stokes.

"Absolutely. I also know this is temporary until the evaluation of Dr Kasey this afternoon." Nick replied matter of factly, feeling a little upset that his father was attempting to get those rights.

"Well, basically that is all I need to know. I will give my report to the judge. You look good considering all that you have experienced,I wish you great luck." She jotted down a few more notes and stood to leave.

"Thank you Mrs Foster." Nick stood to shake her hand,his body feeling a little stiffer from being in the chair but he covered it well, he needed to make sure she saw he was fine.

She nodded her head then picked up her notepad. As she headed out of the office to make her report she turned,"You have a wonderful set of friends son, keep them close." She then turned and walked out of the room.

"That went well." Catherine had a surprised look on her face.

"She's not the one I am worried about actually." Grissom stood and walked over to the door and shut it tight, attempting to keep prying ears from hearing, especially Hodges.

"You okay Nick?" He asked as he watched him stiffly sit back down.

"I'm itching and I want to get out of this suit. Other than that I feel fine." Nick replied hoping that the visit with Dr Kasey would go as well as the one with Mrs Foster.

His friends smiled knowing that Nick was acting his self, that he was attempting to move past this horrible event in his life.

"Well, let me get you to your appointment with Dr Kasey, he has agreed to meet you at your Condo." Grissom stood and headed for the door.

"He agreed to meet me at my home?" Nick asked confused as to the statement.

"I explained the situation to Dr Kasey and I knew you might want to pick up some of your things, seeing that you are wearing other people's clothing." Grissom pointed at the oversized suit.

"Hey, I picked that out for him, I thought it fit nice." Warrick groaned as if his feelings, I personally picked that out of Nikki's father's closet.

"Well,loose is better than tight any day." Nick smiled at Warrick, really not appreciating wearing a dead man's suit. He stood again, making his way to the door, taking a hand and rubbing at his face, the bites were healing but they were itching too.

"Don't scratch those Nick." Catherine gave him a motherly warning.

"I am not scratching Catherine, I'm rubbing." Nick could help want to scratch the irritating pustules that felt as if they were tingling all over his face and body,knowing that he could not take anything until after his meeting with Dr Kasey.

Nick followed Grissom out to his SUV parked in front of the building. The ride to his house was quiet,they were both in deep thought.

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As they pulled into the driveway Nick noticed an unfamiliar car, must be Dr Kasey's he thought to himself as he exited the SUV. As they walked around to the front door Nick was surprised not to see anybody around, Dr Kasey nowhere in sight.

He reached up to get the key in the overhead feeling a small pain in his ribcage as he attempted that move, then he took the key and opened the door, Grissom standing behind him.

As he walked into his condo he felt that something was out of place,that someone had been in his place.

"Sara and Gregg were here, they packed your bag." Grissom sensing that Nick was uneasy about something.

"Makes sense, I thought someone else had been here." Nick threw down his key on the counter and walked into his living room area,the book he had been reading the day of his abduction was still lying on the table,the half eaten bagel still on the kitchen counter. Things had stayed the same, regardless of what he had lived through.

"You want a water?" Nick offered as he watched Grissom look around, the way he would at any crime scene taking in his college trophies with a look of amazement and his collection of books and music as if he were at a library.

Nick smiled, actually enjoying the moment, it felt good to see Grissom taking an interest in his memorabilia and interests.

"Grissom." Nick called his name again,attempting to get his boss's attention.

"Nick, I heard you the first time, thanks I think I will take a bottle of water," He knelt down and pulled out a book on bugs, mostly about ants. Grissom had a thought, this is how Nick knew to lie still, to place something in his ears and nose, to keep his airway clear,"Good reading Nick." He placed the book back onto the shelf and stood.

Nick handed him a bottle of water and turned to walk into his bedroom,"I am going to bathroom, make yourself at home. I'll be back in a few minutes." Nick pointed towards his couch, handing Grissom the channel changer.

"Thanks." Grissom sat down and turned on the television wondering where had Dr Kasey went, his car, evidently in the driveway.

A knock at the door saved him from watching a repeat of Oprah, thank God was all he could think as he went to answer the door.

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Nick pulled off his jacket and laid it on the bed, then picked up his phone and walked into the bathroom closing the door tightly behind him. Quickly dialing the number for information.

"I need information please." he spoke into the phone the operator coming on almost immediately.

"What city and state please?"

"Las Vegas Nevada, I need the number for McCarran International airport."

The operator gave him the number, he hit one for automatic connection, the airport directory assistance person answered,"How may I direct your call?"

"I need American airlines please."Nick answered, hoping that he could hurry and complete the call before Dr Kasey showed up.

"American Airlines, how may I help you." the sweet voice asked on the other end of the line.

"I need a one way ticket to St Thomas Isle." he had put thought into this move ever since he awakened from the medicated sleep, no more being treated as a psych patient, he just need to get away,from everything and everybody.

He gave his credit card number and received his flight details. He would leave tonight, he would have to delay his return to Nikki's home until tonight. Knowing that he was not going to return at all.

Nick finished the call and walked back into his bedroom, gathering together what he would need for his flight and a weeks worth of clothing and stuffed it into the travel bag. Where was his truck, he thought to himself, must be back at the station. He grabbed the extra set of keys and some extra cash he had in his closet safe and stuffed it all into the bag.

A knock at the door gave Nick the times up call, it was time to meet with his psychiatrist.

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Hoping you guys like...really!


	19. Chapter 19

Author: Nicksfriend

Rating:k

Spoilers: Grave Danger

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...that is for sure.

Author's note:This is my first CSI fic. Please be gentle.

Nick shoved the bag into the closet and threw off his shirt and pulled on a sweater,one that would not itch as much as the starched shirt."Who is it?" he asked stalling for time.

"Nick, I need you to open the door." Grissom's voice seemed stressed. Dr Kasey would not cause him to stress out; and Grissom was definitely stressed out.

"I'm changing my clothes Grissom, I'll be out in a minute." He called out hoping to buy some time. Nick's mind was racing, who was in the other room and where they there to create a problem?

Nick grabbed his bag from the closet, changed his pants to jeans and pulled on his his boots. "Grissom, Tell Dr Kasey to make himself at home." Nick yelled through his door. He reached under the bed and pulled out his spare weapon and took off the safety

"Nick, you need to hurry. The doctor needs to see you" Grissom called back out, wanting to give Nick a clue as to what was really happening in his living room.

Nick looked out his window,it was clear. After opening and throwing his duffel bag through his open window he looked back,hoping Grissom was not in trouble. Had his father hired someone to kidnap him, geez twice in one week, that wouldn't do, he needed to get away.

He eased his sore body out of the window, picking up his bag and easing towards the back of the condo,he spotted a man stood with what looked like a tazer, 'Damn, what the hell?' he thought to himself as he decided to go across to the adjoining condo,his neighbor a beautiful blonde, who always loved to flirt with him, might be able to assist him and Grissom.

He ran quickly up to her door and rang the bell,suddenly she appeared with a towel wrapped around her head and a robe covering her very curvy body. "Hey. I thought you were dead." Her morbid greeting was due to the fact that she had seen the news of his kidnapping.

"Not quiet. I need to come in for a minute and use your phone." He was already moving forward, not really waiting for a answer.

"Sure Nick, come on in, phone is over there. By the way, you look like hell." She pointed, letting her robe gape open a little bit more, the Texan had always been on her to get list. Closing the door she walked over and sat down by her neighbor.

"Not the first time I've heard that in the past few days." Nick quickly dialed 911, he was connected to an operator after hitting a few more buttons,"I have a possible robbery in progress. There could be a hostage."

After giving the operator his address he waited as she went away for a few seconds. She then came back and informed him that she had dispatched a police car with back-up. He then hung up the call,hoping to find out if Grissom was in immediate danger.

Nick ran to the window,peaking out of the closed curtains, attempting to look out to see if he could see what was happening at his condo. He picked up the phone again and called his home phone.

"Grissom." A rather nervous and shaky voice answered.

Nick covered the handset of the phone and handed it to the blonde,"Ask if I am there, tell him you are a friend."

She nodded and took the phone, her low gravelly voice asked,"Hey, is Nick there. I was just wondering how he was feeling?" She smiled up at the Texan, pleased with her acting ability.

"No. Nick isn't, maybe you can call him back after while." Grissom was trying to discern who the caller could be as the stranger stood next to him attempting to listen in on the conversation.

Nick needed to know if he needed assistance or if he could wait for police back up. "Ask him if he's my father." He directed her as she continued to talk.

"Hey you must be Nick's father." Wanting to assist the good looking man who seemed very upset about what was happening in his home.

Grissom then realized that Nick was no longer in the bedroom, he needed to let Nick know that he was in trouble,"No. I'm just here waiting for my friend Nick,he's taken a few shots here lately,having a rough few days."

"They have a gun," he whispered to himself,"Tell him you will call back later,that you heard that he was feeling really down."

The blonde nodded, suddenly realizing the complexity of the situation,"Hey, I'll call the cowboy back later,I just called coz I heard he was feeling very down."

Grissom knew what the clue meant,help was on the way and he needed to get his head down. "No problem, I'll tell him you called. Your Name?"

She covered the phone,"He wants to know my name."

Nick knew that Grissom needed to know what was going on so he gave her a name," Tell him you are a show girl, you go by Two Tazer Tammy ."

She giggled and shook her head,"Nicky comes to see me a lot at the Glass Slipper, they call me Two Tazer Tammy , he loves to meet me at the backdoor and well you know. Sometimes that science cop, well he sure has a lot of back up for a Texan."

Nick rolled his eyes at her added comments, Grissom would have him on restricted duty for a year.

"Tell him I'll call back real soon." She then hung up the phone giving Nick a look of pure seduction but knew it would have to wait till later.

"One more thing, I need you to take me to the airport." He was tired, it had been a long day.

"Sure Texan, I'll be glad to take you anywhere you want." Giving him a sweet smile.

"Thanks, I think we need to hurry up and leave. I have a feeling this might be the first place they look when they arrive." Referring to the police, Nick stood and gathered his discarded bag and placed his gun in the back of his jeans.

"Give me a minute, I need to get dressed. Make yourself at home honey." She walked out of the living room, leaving Nick to wait, his concern was still for his friend, but as he looked out the window the police were pulling up to his home, Brass's car leading the pack. He could not help but to wonder when it would all be over and his life would return to normal.

His neighbor walked back in dressed in shorts and a very low, tight top. Her wet hair pulled back in a ponytail"Ready to go sweety?"

"Sure,Let's go." He followed her out to her car in the garage, threw his bag in the trunk and got into the passenger seat, bending down low in the car so that nobody could see him,he just wanted to get to the airport.

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Grissom raised his eyebrows in surprise,where had Nick come up with this girl on such short notice,but he got the clues and he placed the phone back on the hook. He sat down on the sofa and waited, he knew help was on the way.

The men inside decided they could not wait any longer for Nick to come out, they would have to go in and get him.

"Hey Stokes, we need to talk to you. If you don't come out we will hurt your friend." The man with a gun pointed at Grissom yelled into the bedroom, the other man kicked the door in and went inside.

"He's not here." He walked back out with Nick's discarded suit, "He must of went out the window."

"Damn, well he couldn't of went very far."He then pulled out his cell and made a call as they headed towards the backdoor.

"Listen Grissom, we aren't playing here, we were hired to do a job and we will find him." The two men heard the sirens and quickly ran out of the back door of the condo,Grissom stood,rushing over to the door , the police had arrived, the pounding at the door evidence of their desire to assist. He opened the front door and was met by Brass.

"What the hell happened here Gil?" Brass's gun drawn and he was already passing Grissom making his way into the house.

"I really don't know but I have a feeling Judge Stokes knows." Grissom was angry and worried about his CSI.

"Where's Nick?" Brass was worried that he wasn't in the condo.

"Good question." he walked out of the condo and looked around, the condo next door being the closest to the window. As he started towards the condo a blonde pulled her small sport's car out of the garage but he did not see anybody with her,maybe Nick had gone somewhere else.

He stood at the end of the dirveway and looked around the neighborhood, Nick could be anywhere.

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"What happened back there?" The blonde asked as she headed towards the airport.

"Honestly, I really don't know. I know my father,he would have never hired men with guns. He is definitely controlling but he's not a killer." Nick's voice low and distant, as he starred out the window.

"Well. I hope your friend is fine, he seemed really nice over the phone." she smiled over at a surprised Nick, Grissom got all the women, he thought to himself.

As they pulled into the airport, the blonde parked the car in front so Nick could get his baggage out of the back."Hey Texan,my name is Abbey, if you ever need a friend you know where I live." She smiled and gave him a hug,"I mean it, I'm a good listener."

Nick returned her hug,"Thanks, I just might take you up on that when I return." Remembering the gun in his pants he stopped and walked back to the blonde,"I can't take this with me,I need you to hang on to it for me, okay." He removed the bullets and placed the safety into place.

"I hate guns." Her face in a grimace, "But anything for you Texan. Come over to get it when you return."

"I will. Thanks for all you did today." He smiled and took out his baseball cap and placed it on his head, his jacket covering the bites on his arm and the cap pulled down low enough to keep bystanders from starring.

The blonde waved good-bye and got back into her car to leave,smiling at the thought of the Texans return.

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Well, this is different. I want to get a little less boring. I hope you like!


	20. Chapter 20

Author: Nicksfriend

Rating:k

Spoilers: Grave Danger

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...that is for sure.

Author's note:This is my first CSI fic. Please be gentle.

Okay Stokesgirl...I heard you and I started to work...**crack that whip girl!**I went back and watched the first show of season six and I saw a pained Nick, someone who had been through a lot, especially when that bug crawled on his arm, I thought **he didn't get the therapy** he needed. Poor guy. And that accomplice, well she possibly was attempting to find a way to get that **million dollars back** that got blown up! So that is the mind set of the last chapter and continuing on with this chapter. Also when Grissom didn't want Archie to mention the tape to Nick, I think he was suspecting something then, possible accomplice, that this person realized Nick is the son of a Supreme Court Judge...money,money,money! Okay, enough rambling from me.

And I like putting Nick through the ringer, I'm an angster!

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"What happened back there?" The blonde asked as she headed towards the airport.

"Honestly, I really don't know. I know my father,he would have never hired men with guns. He is definitely controlling but he's not a killer." Nick's voice low and distant, as he starred out the window.

"Well. I hope your friend is fine, he seemed really nice over the phone." she smiled over at a surprised Nick, Grissom got all the women, he thought to himself.

As they pulled into the airport, the blonde parked the car in front so Nick could get his baggage out of the back."Hey Texan,my name is Abbey, if you ever need a friend you know where I live." She smiled and gave him a hug,"I mean it, I'm a good listener."

Nick returned her hug,"Thanks, I just might take you up on that when I return." Remembering the gun in his pants he stopped and walked back to the blonde,"I can't take this with me,I need you to hang on to it for me, okay." He removed the bullets and placed the safety into place.

"I hate guns." Her face in a grimace, "But anything for you Texan. Come over to get it when you return."

"I will. Thanks for all you did today." He smiled and took out his baseball cap and placed it on his head, his jacket covering the bites on his arm and the cap pulled down low enough to keep bystanders from starring.

The blonde waved good-bye and got back into her car to leave,smiling at the thought of the Texan's return.

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Nick entered the airport and went to the ticket counter, the events of the evening replaying in his mind,who were the men at his home?Was his father involved?

He pulled out the cash he had taken from his closet safe and decided that he would play things safe. He canceled the ticket to St Thomas, purchasing instead a ticket for cash to Knoxville Tennessee, a college friend lived in a small town outside Gatlinburg.He would call her and see if she would allow him to stay with her for a few days, if not he would stay in a motel or rent a cabin in the mountains.

After purchasing his ticket he found out that the scheduled flight would be leaving within fifteen minutes, he'd have to hurry.

He checked his bag and walked to the security check point, no problems with getting through, he then headed for the flight gate. He needed to get away for a while, he needed some peace and quiet and much needed rest.

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Grissom and Brass had waited for Nick's return, but when it didn't happen, they decided to go and look for the man who's life could be in danger.

Grissom saw the sports car pull back into the garage next door and felt that she would have been the person who Nick would have went to first. The blonde got out of her car and started to walk into the house when she saw the older man approaching,she smiled, wondering if this was the man on the phone.

"Hi, my name is Gil Grissom. I'm looking for my friend Nick Stokes, have you seen him today?"

She gave him a small smile and asked,"Why do you ask?"

"I'm his supervisor, I think his life might be in danger." Concerned etched on his face,his voice was sincere.

"Come in, we can talk." She motioned for Grissom to follow and they entered her house through the garage.

""Have a seat, I'll be back in a moment." she waved to the living room.

Grissom walked in and took a seat,the beautiful blonde seemed like Nick's type, most definitely.

Abbey walked back into the room, dressed in more clothing than before, which wasn't lost on Grissom,wondering who she was trying to impress earlier.

"I don't have but a few minutes and I really need to find Nick. Have you seen him?" He needed to find Nick, especially since the armed men seemed to have meant business.

"Are you Nick's father?" She asked hoping that he was the man on the phone earlier he would get the clue.

Grissom smiled," I think I gave you the answer earlier."

She smiled,knowing this was the man who was being held against his will earlier."I took him to the airport. He seemed to be in a hurry."

Grissom stood,Nick must of felt his life was in danger to have scheduled a flight"

"Or maybe he's tired of being the center of attention, he just might feel the need to disappear for a while." She smiled at the man sitting across from her.

He gave her a confused look, her statement in a way made sense, Nick was always a private man,"Thank you, you've been a great help." He hurried out of the house he needed to find Brass and get to the airport.

Grissom ran back to Nick's condo, "Jim, Nick went to the airport."

"Why did he go there?" Brass seemed confused as to the mindset of the young CSI.

"He may feel that his life is in danger. Why else would armed men attempt to come into his home and attempt to take him? I thought it was his father at first but this isn't what a father would do, I think Nick realized that and is running for his life." Grissom was locking up Nick's home and pocketing the key, worried for his friend who felt that he wasn't safe anymore.

"You think that this has something to do with Nick's kidnapping?"Brass asked,wondering how far these people would go to get to Nick.

"I don't know but they meant business, they intended to harm Nick,we have to consider this as an attempted kidnapping unless we can prove otherwise." Grissom followed Brass to his car, "We need to hurry and find Nick."

Brass nodded and was about to get into the car when another car pulled up, it was Dr Kasey.

"I'm looking for Nick Stokes, is this his condo?" The man asked as he opened his car door.

Grissom knew that an explanation had to be given but time was running short,"Dr Kasey, I need you to come with me." Grissom flashed his badge, the man leaving his vehicle and getting into the car with Brass and Grissom.

"What's going on?" The older man asked as he fastened his seatbelt in the back seat.

"Nick was almost kidnapped again, his life may be in jeopardy if we don't find him." Grissom explained as Brass headed for t he airport.

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Sara and Gregg drove back from Nikki's parent's home, an uncomfortable silence loomed in the car. They didn't trust the older man,but they needed to get back to work. Both wishing that Nick would be given what he deserved,time to heal.

They both hoped inwardly that Nick's meetings were going good and that Nick could stop running, he needed to be able to have some peace after all that he had endured.

"Want to stop and get a burger?" Gregg asked, feeling his stomach start to growl.

Sara looked over and gave him a look,"I don't eat meat Gregg."

"Well, get a soda or a bun, I don't care, I'm starving." Gregg's stomach took that moment to let out a loud growl.

"We're almost back to the station Gregg, take Warrick and get something to eat, I have work to get done." She grumbled, feeling the need to catch up a few cases that had been neglected since Nick's kidnapping.

"At least he appreciates good food Sara." Gregg felt as if the gastric acids in his stomach were eating at the mucosa lining and that he would bleed out any moment.

"Here take this." Sara handed him a piece of gum from her pocket,a few pieces of lint sticking to the wrapper.

"How many germs does this have on it ,billions?" He laid the contaminated gum down in the console, attempting to wish away his hunger pains.

Sara's phone rang and she quickly answered it attempting to avoid another whining moment from the driver of the vehicle." Sara."

"Listen Sara we have a problem, I need you to check flights that left from the Las Vegas airport or will be leaving, I think Nick was on one of them or will be on one of them, we've had a problem." Grissom was the search needing both her and Gregg looking for Nick.

"What happened Gil?" She asked scared for her friend.

"Several armed men showed up and attempted to get to Nick. I thought it was Nick's father but now I'm starting to think that the kidnapping might have been more complicated than an angered father. Money may have been an intent. Possibly an accomplice." Grissom rubbed at his tired face, it was going to be another long day.

"We're on it." She ended the conversation knowing that she needed to get to work and started making calls."We need to go to the airport Gregg." she instructed as she dialed information.

"What's wrong?" He asked, worried that his friend was in trouble again.

"Nick's missing." Information picked up and she had them connect her to the airport, she would have to run all the manifests for that morning.

"What the hell?" Not knowing all the details he was still shocked that Nick was having to go through this torment again. He checked his rearview mirror and made a quick turn towards the airport,wondering if Nick would ever catch a break.

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As the flight ascended upwards Nick felt relief, he could finally relax and close his eyes, but he wouldn't allow himself to sleep. The nightmares might come, now that would scare a few passengers he thought to himself.

He needed to keep his mind focused on other things besides Gordan or men with guns, he felt safe amongst the strangers on the plane, safer than he had felt in his own home.

He stretched out and picked up a discarded magazine from the pocket in front of him and started reading an article on menopause."Wow, that's whats going on with Catherine." He joked out loud, mostly making the comment to himself.

"Is Catherine your mother?" the older woman commented, seeing that the young man seemed engrossed in the article.

Nick looked up and smiled,"No ma'am, she's my boss." Nick smiled, the bug bites now visible to the older woman.

"What happened to you son. Did you get attacked by a swarm of bees?" Her interest now peaked as she took in his haggard appearance and the multiple bug bites.

"Red ants actually." He gave her a small pained smile,feeling uncomfortable talking about his problem with a stranger.

"I'm sorry, it looks as if they got the best of you." Her small hands shook as she reached into her purse and pulled out a floral designed handkerchief. She then reached over and wiped a small area of sweat from his forehead,"You might have a fever son,your skin is quite warm and your sweating."

Her concerned manner was comforting to Nick,it felt like his mom's nurturing manner."I'm fine." He lied, knowing that he probably was running a small fever, but he hadn't had any antibiotic since early morning, the pain in his hips a reminder of the injections and he was very tired."

She again with trembling fingers pulled out a bottle of Tylenol, "Take a couple of these, you'll feel better." Handing Nick the bottle, her hands to shaky to open the lid.

"Thank you, that's very kind." He opened the bottle and took out two tablets, handing her back the secured bottle to place back into her purse. He then took a bottle of water he had purchased at the concourse and took the pills.

She smiled sweetly and looked out the window,"Sure is peaceful up here. Makes me feel closer to God."

Nick looked over at the clouds,"I don't know about that, that's not what I feel." He continued looking out the window, curious about the little frail woman's comment, "How does it make you feel closer to God?"

She smiled a crooked smile, and lifted up her head towards Nick,"Because up here we're all in God's hands,one slight mistake of the pilot or a wandering bird could take us down within a moment. We'd have no choice in the matter,death would certainly consume us. Therefore, we have to place our lives in His hands,because no matter how you look at it,we have no control, only He does."

It made sense, but he wasn't certain of His existence anymore after all that he'd suffered. He actually had felt closer to Hell in that Plexiglas coffin. Where had his childlike faith gone after all those years of growing up in church? Why didn't he feel the same way the little old woman was feeling? He actually wanted to feel that he was in God's hands,but he didn't feel safe, if he was in God's hands he would feel safe, and that was the least thing he felt right now.

The pills were making him sweat the low grade fever, he stood to go to the bathroom, he needed some cool water to his face. The salty sweat causing his skin to burn. The little woman still looking out the window, a small smile radiating from her as she continued to stare out at the sky. Nick silently wished that he still had her faith, in God and in man.

He slowly made his way towards the back of the plane,suddenly the plane hit some turbulence and he was tossed forward, the plane made a sidewards roll,luggage and people fell to the right. Nick fell to the floor but held onto a seat,the pilot coming on the overhead instructing the passengers to fasten their seatbelts.

Nick made it to an empty seat and fastened the belt around his lap, the plane seemed to be having difficulty correcting itself, a look of terror on the faces of those around him.

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Feedback?


	21. Chapter 21

Author: Nicksfriend

Rating:k

Spoilers: Grave Danger

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...that is for sure.

Author's note:This is my first CSI fic. Please be gentle.

**I promised several weeks ago when I finished this story that I would tell why I wrote it and what started me writing fanfiction. That time has come and it does make me sad and happy all at the same time.**

**I am a nurse and I was recently attacked by a patient at the hospital, I was out of work for all these months,only recently have I been able to return. This was my outlet,my solace and the kind words for each of you who chose to respond to this story and the others I wrote helped in my healing.**

**Everybody has their story, mine played out here, the pain and hurt I felt I gave these feeling to my characters and I wrote.**

**Brass still had my sense of humor,Catherine my mother sense, Grissom was my ability to look at things from outside the box, to see the world as it really is and not what I wanted it to be all these years. Gregg was my shy side,afraid to be heard at times for fear of being wrong. Sara was the sadness that I felt and the pain that I had inside. And poor Nick, he was me. I allowed Nick to experience pain I would not allow myself in real life,boy he got beat up a lot but he took it well and he survived.**

**This has been my healing place and will continue to be my healing place. I love the friendships that I have established here and I love the people. I found out that I love to write and that I do have a passion for CSI,It rocks!**

**Thank you for your loyalty to the story and for all the great support that I have felt through this story.**

**Like I said, we all have our story,mine is a story of pain and survival...thank you!**

**The story ends:**

Nick made it to an empty seat and fastened the belt around his lap, the plane seemed to be having difficulty correcting itself, a look of terror on the faces of those around him.

When one is close to death they say you have a flashback experience,everything flashes before your eyes. The good and the bad things in life are there in 3-D. That is how it was as Nick could see his life clearly, the good and the bad experiences of his life.

As he clung to the seat the world seemed to stop and he looked at what he had been given, abuse to the extreme but he was also give the ability to overcome even the worse events.

The little lady was right, we are all in God's hands and if we look at life as she does then we would know that our lives could be snuffed out in a moment. And here he was clinging to the arm of a plane seat for all he was worth and he knew that this small simple act was giving him some small form of hope.

The seat could not save him but his trust in God could,God was in control,not the pilot,not him, but it was like the little old lady had said, God could save them.

He thought if he made it, would he make big promises to God, like going to church on Sunday or living a better life but it suddenly hit him, God would only want him to live the best life possible and that included forgiveness and moving forward and not looking back.

The intercom came to life with the pilot giving instructions for everybody to fasten their seat and to stay seated,the plane was in trouble but they were attempting to fix the problem.

The worst situation in his life suddenly became menescule and he didn't want to run anymore,he knew what he had to do, if he made it off the plane. He need to face his problems,not run from them.

The pilot returned to speaking and announced that they would be landing back in Vegas, they had lost an engine. The plane continued to rock and toss the passengers around. Nick let go, the tight grip he had on the seat released,he knew that he was in God's hands,whatever happened, well it was meant to be,he accepted whatever the outcome because he had come to peace with what he had been unable to accept all this time,he was not in control,God was in control.

Nick watched as some of the people around him bowed their heads in prayer,feeling that it was the right thing to do he bowed his and asked that God would be with them and give them a safe landing.

Suddenly the plane's landing gear hit pavement and the plane came to a complete stop,the people still panicked, stood immediately even as they were being instructed to sit down and stay calm.

The plane's emergency exit was opened and a set of stairs were placed outside to allow the passengers to exit the plane safely, Nick stayed behind, knowing that the little old lady might need assistance;as he undid his belt he made his way to her seat,she was sitting very still, her eyes closed as if she were taking a nap.

Nick placed his fingers to her neck and found no pulse,she was dead. He signaled for the flight attendant and suddenly things were happening to attempt to save her but it was too late, the little lady was dead, her time had come to meet God.

Nick could not help but to look at her with a sense of sadness, even though he knew that she was fine. He stood and walked down the stairs and back to the entrance of the airport where he spotted Grissom and Brass standing,waiting for the plane to land.

"Nick, are you okay?" Grissom asked as Nick approached,the concern written all over his face for his friend.

"Actually, I'm better than I've been in a long time." Giving them a smile. "I'm ready to go home."

Brass grinned and shook his head,"Well, home is a crime scene but your welcome to stay at my place."

Nick nodded, he was fine with wherever they took him he just needed to speak to his father first.

Dr Kasey stood in the background and watched as Nick greeted his friends,he knew what he would tell the Judge, that Nick Stokes was fine, he just needed time to heal.

Possibly one last chapter to finish up a few details. Thank you for reading.


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